Number 5 (Red Wall) 1952

Ad Reinhardt made this painting, Number 5 (Red Wall), which is a study in process, and how a single color can unfold into endless variations. It’s all about the red, but it’s also about how painting itself is a kind of thinking. The rectangles of slightly different reds build into a wall, not in a trompe l’oeil way, but in the way that laying bricks is a process. Each stroke, each decision, contributes to the whole. I wonder about the physicality of the paint: is it thin and transparent, or thick and opaque? Are we supposed to be able to see the brushstrokes, or is the surface meant to be smooth? These subtleties shape how we feel about the painting. This reminds me of the work of Agnes Martin, where the grid becomes a space for meditation. Reinhardt, like Martin, invites us to slow down, to see the subtle shifts and changes that make up the experience of looking. Art is an ongoing conversation, and this painting is a quiet, thoughtful contribution.