Untitled 1985

Stanley William Hayter made this untitled gouache on paper in 1985. The image is immediate and feels unrehearsed, like the artist moved quickly, almost in a single breath. It's all about flow; the kind of easy, gestural, almost automatic expression that can only come after years of practice. Look at the way Hayter uses a limited palette of blues, greens, and yellows to create a sense of movement and depth. You can almost feel the wetness of the paint as it was dragged across the page. The layering of the colors creates a vibrancy, like light filtering through water. See how the brushstrokes themselves seem to build the form of the figure, each stroke adding to the sense of energy and dynamism? This reminds me a little of Joan Miró, with its playful, almost cartoonish quality. But Hayter brings his own unique sensibility to the work. It feels like he’s inviting us to participate in the act of creation, to complete the image in our own minds.