Chairs and Shadows 1950

This is Glen Alps' "Chairs and Shadows," a print of layered shapes and lines on a violet ground. I imagine Alps building up this image through trial, error, and intuition, each color and line a step in a visual dance. I sympathize with Alps, imagining him pushing the boundaries of abstraction to evoke something of the everyday. What was he thinking when he juxtaposed these bold forms? The textures call to me, those flat planes of colour, orange, yellow, and green, all floating in that purple space. And then those thin lines, like afterthoughts, dancing across the surface. That line snaking across the bottom feels almost like a signature, a gesture communicating both intention and feeling. I wonder, how does this piece fit within Alps' wider practice? Does it connect with the playfulness of Klee, the formal rigor of Albers? Artists are always in conversation, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. It reminds us that painting embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations and meanings.