Painted canvas fragment  c. 20th century

Editor: This is Barnett Newman's "Painted canvas fragment." It's just a small thing, really, maybe four by five inches, red paint bleeding into raw canvas. It feels… incomplete, almost violent in its simplicity. What do you make of it? Curator: Violent, yes, but also vulnerable, don't you think? A primal scream trapped in a scrap. Newman was obsessed with the sublime, with evoking pure emotion. Does this little rebel succeed, I wonder? Editor: A rebel indeed! It’s challenging my perception of what art should even be. Curator: Exactly! It's a fragment, a beginning, a question mark hurled at the universe. Perhaps Newman wanted us to complete it, in our minds. What a thought! Editor: It’s certainly given me a lot to consider. Thanks!