Untitled (P280) 1967

This untitled painting is by Gene Davis, and when you look at it, you can almost feel him standing there, brush in hand. I imagine him, thinking hard, carefully applying these stripes of color one by one. There’s a rhythm here, isn't there? See how the maroon and blue stripes feel like a steady beat, while the other colors, like bright yellow, red, and lavender, dance around it. The paint looks pretty thin, like a veil, which gives it all a light, airy feel, as if he wants to create a musical score more than a picture. It makes me think about Agnes Martin, or maybe even some early Mondrian, other artists who were trying to find their own kind of visual music. In the end, paintings like this remind us that everything is connected. Artists don't work in a vacuum; they're always talking to each other, across time and space. Each mark, each color choice, is part of a conversation that's been going on for centuries, and will keep going long after we're gone.