Composition 1921

Janos Mattis-Teutsch made this painting, Composition, with oil on canvas. There's a real sense of process here, like watching the artist think through colour and form. It's all about the act of painting, the gesture, the push and pull. Look at how he's laid down that yellow, so thick and buttery. It feels like the sun, almost warm to the touch. Then you have these swirling shapes of red, black, orange, and white, pushing in and out of each other. It's like a dance, a conversation between colors. I love that little touch of pink, it adds such a sweetness, a lightness. Mattis-Teutsch reminds me a bit of Kandinsky, that same interest in the spiritual possibilities of abstract form, but there’s something so raw and personal about his touch. It is about ambiguity, feeling, and that lovely experience of not quite knowing.