Study Attic Series XIV 1991

Robert Mangold’s “Study Attic Series XIV” is like a daydream, a playful exploration of form and color. Just imagine him in the studio, that thin waxy crayon in hand, patiently drawing two ovals, one overlapping the other, on a luminous orange ground that fills the picture plane. It’s so simple, yet so captivating, that it makes you think about his process. I can imagine Mangold shifting and adjusting the ovals until they feel just right— tweaking their position, their relationship to the background, maybe even changing the color slightly to find the right balance. What I love about Mangold is how he takes the everyday—shapes, lines, colors—and turns them into something special, something that feels both familiar and new. These ellipses, like slightly squashed circles, invite our gaze, making us contemplate the nature of geometry. The orange makes me feel warm and energized. Mangold’s work, like that of his peers, is part of a longer conversation about the possibilities of painting. The kind of conversation that keeps us artists going!