Winter 1956, Yorkshire 1956

Terry Frost made this painting, Winter 1956, Yorkshire, with oil on canvas. I can imagine Frost layering down those strokes of gray and white, trying to capture the stark, quiet of a Yorkshire winter. The paint looks thin, almost like watercolor in places, which is kind of surprising, right? He’s got these vertical lines that could be trees or maybe just the feeling of standing in a cold, bare landscape. That big, black square up top, what’s that about? It could be a window, a void, or just a shape that balances the composition, like a full stop! Frost was part of a generation grappling with abstraction, trying to find ways to express feelings and experiences without literally depicting things. He was interested in making a painting that could stand on its own, not just as a picture of something else. And in a way, that's what all us painters are doing, talking to each other across time and space.