Four Crosses 1924

Rudolf Bauer made this abstract painting, using bright orange crosses amongst more hazy shapes. I wonder what it was like for Bauer, pushing around the pigment, those fluid veils of blue, the soft pinks and greens, pulling them into focus around the crisp lines of the crosses. It seems like he was searching for a way to arrange those four crosses, and then just let the rest of the painting happen organically. See how they are skewed, tilted, like they're in motion. The colors feel light and airy, as if he's created his own atmosphere. Looking at the bold geometry of the crosses, I’m reminded of Mondrian’s linear structures, but Bauer’s looser, more gestural painting style gives it such a different feel. Like he’s both honouring and breaking with that tradition at the same time. It’s this tension between control and chance, intention and intuition, that makes painting so endlessly fascinating. Artists are always in conversation with each other.