Poppies 1976

Eyvind Earle made this vibrant painting, Poppies, using what looks like gouache, maybe even tempera. I can imagine Earle carefully plotting the placement of each color and shape. He's built up layers of blues and greens, and then these explosions of red on top. The white branches and tiny flowers are like afterthoughts, floating above the surface. I'm getting a sense of control and freedom here. The artist might have been in a kind of flow state when he made it, where the painting almost made itself. I wonder if Earle was thinking of Arthur Dove, another great colourist. Or maybe he was trying to do his own version of a Matisse interior, but with a more American feel. You know, more like Fairfield Porter. Artists are always talking to each other, across time and space. They're always looking at what other artists have done and saying, "I can do that too!" Or, "I can do that better!" That's what makes art so exciting. It's a big, messy conversation that never ends.