Yellow Flower, Red Flower 1972

This painting by Alexander Calder features bold shapes and colors in what looks like gouache or maybe acrylic. Imagine Calder reaching out with his brush, filling each form with these bright, flat colors. The red flower, kind of enormous, looming, and next to it, this little sunshine yellow bloom. I wonder what he was thinking when he put that spot of blue at the top? It’s such a playful, unexpected choice, kind of a wink. The black lines feel sure and confident, outlining each shape with a graphic punch. There’s a real joy in these simple gestures, these confident marks. Calder was, of course, a sculptor, and you can really see that sensibility here, like he’s building forms with color rather than bending metal in his workshop. He was part of a whole conversation of artists playing with form and color. Ultimately, painting is an embodied act; each brushstroke captures the artist’s movement, their touch, and their way of seeing the world. It’s never just about what you see, but how you feel, and maybe how the artist felt too.