Freedom of the Arts, 1776 1974

Frank Mason made 'Freedom of the Arts, 1776' with what looks like ink or a thin wash of paint, and you can really sense the speed of his hand in the swirling marks. There is a nervous energy to this picture, a frantic yet delicate touch. Look at how Mason builds up the figures and forms with layers of hatching. The paint is applied in such thin washes that you can sense the tooth of the paper beneath, creating a kind of luminosity from within. Then notice the way the horses seem to leap from the gloom, their forms suggested more than defined, like ghosts in motion. That’s how it feels to paint sometimes, an act of summoning, pulling something from nothing. It makes me think of Delacroix, that Romantic sensibility and the way he built up form with color and gesture. Art's not just about answers, it's about the questions and the ongoing conversation.