Big Picture 1979 - 1980

Robert Moskowitz made this painting titled, Big Picture, on three joined panels. I love how the composition is divided into distinct zones, like different stages in a performance. The materiality of the paint here is key, there’s a tactile sense of layering and scraping. The gray is applied thinly, almost like a stain, letting the weave of the canvas peek through. The two white lines, slicing across the picture plane, have a tangible, almost sculptural presence. The right panel is a field of dark, almost bruised color, with a small rectangle of metallic paint. Thinking about what makes a painting good, maybe it's this quality of feeling incomplete. Like it’s still in the process of becoming. It reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, whose subtle color variations and grids create a similar sense of quiet contemplation. Art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.