Composition 1947

Wols made this painting, called Composition, and it's just a riot of marks and colors. I love the way he's just letting it all hang out, you know? There's something so immediate and raw about the surface. The paint is thin in places, creating these drips and streaks of orange and red. Then you have these thick, almost chaotic scribbles of black, like he was just attacking the canvas. Check out that circle near the bottom, with the little white sliver, like a moon. It's almost cartoonish, but also kind of haunting. I get a sense of pure emotion, like he's trying to capture something that's just on the edge of being ungraspable. It reminds me a bit of some of Cy Twombly’s work, that same sense of letting the hand lead the way, embracing the messiness of it all. It's like Wols is saying, “Here’s the feeling, take it or leave it.”