Royau bleu (vert) 

Curator: Olivier Debré's “Royau bleu (vert)”, or “Royal blue (green)”, envelopes you, doesn't it? A grand wash of color, contained… barely. Editor: Barely is right! It's like trying to hold the sky in your hands, that airy blue. Yet, the frantic energy bursting at the edges is undeniable, wild colors itching to escape. A contained chaos, perhaps? Curator: Indeed. Debré, aligned with Abstract Expressionism, sought to explore form and feeling. It’s an exploration of boundaries. Think about the late 20th century and the influence of museums that elevated the abstract. What happens when a museum wall constrains something fundamentally formless? Editor: Well, clearly it gets restless! It’s a question, right? Is it a landscape? Is it a portal? What is contained and uncontained? To me, it’s so intuitive and unacademic, despite that history of institutions weighing on it. The lack of specific details opens a door in your mind... like a suggestion rather than a declaration. Curator: It's a whisper rather than a shout, perhaps. That blue field invites contemplation, and your eye begins to discern how that "containment" works. Debré’s brushstrokes have built up on those edges. The sides and corners serve to accentuate the spaciousness of the central field. Editor: Absolutely. It's a painting that teaches you how to see it, layer by layer. At first glance, it is all blue and emptiness, and then it becomes all movement and texture. The subtle shades become so alive and present. You notice it, not just see it. Curator: Its lack of a precise date lets it exist somehow, outside time, which is an interesting tension for work like this—created and viewed inside social institutions that live by the calendar and by specific moments in art history. Editor: And isn’t it a testament to the power of art when something so abstract becomes such an active participant in the here and now? Curator: Yes. Debré truly makes the form speak, regardless of the structures trying to give it definition. Editor: It lets my imagination do the work. Wonderful!