Pichetroué 1974

Maurice Esteve made ‘Pichetroué’ with oil on canvas, and from the look of it, the making was a lot of building up and scraping back. I imagine Esteve being deep in the throes of it, maybe even tormented by the process—pushing it here and there, this way and that, trying to make it work. What does the title mean? It’s like a jumble of color and shape where nothing is quite sitting still. It’s a party of colors that can’t be contained, with the reds and greens and yellows all jostling for space. I love how a big painting can be a place of inquiry. Like, the artist asks, “What if I put this color next to that one?" And then the painting answers back. The brushstrokes aren't trying to hide. They're out in full force, letting us see the artist’s hand in it, letting us watch the making happen. The feeling this painting evokes is similar to that of other artists, such as Matisse, who were using color to express their inner worlds. Painting like this reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation across time.