Vis boven bloemen 1953

Editor: Here we have Eugene Brands' "Vis boven bloemen", or "Fish Above Flowers," painted in 1953, presumably using watercolor on canvas. I'm struck by the vibrant colors and the almost dreamlike juxtaposition of a fish and flowers. What catches your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: Immediately, the composition asserts itself. Notice the artist’s division of space, the foreground occupied by the bouquet and the recessive background suggested by vertical, calligraphic yellow marks. Editor: It's interesting you point that out. At first glance, it seemed quite chaotic, but now I see a definite structure. Are you drawn to the impasto technique? Curator: The painting possesses a remarkable economy of line. Note, if you will, how Brands modulates the texture. He teases out shapes by scumbling, allowing the white ground to interact with the pigment, generating chromatic nuance. The fish itself is particularly interesting as it is both figurative and yet dissolves into abstraction. It's an ambiguous form that, though somewhat strange, balances the floral arrangement below. The visual language used here has so much to do with mid-century visual experimentation. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. It’s fascinating how Brands blends the figurative with the abstract to make new forms emerge through color, composition and technique. Curator: Exactly! Considering those elements gives us a powerful tool to analyze the artistic vocabulary that allows this painter to speak his name across time. Editor: Well, looking at it from a Formalist point of view really gives you so much to work with. Thank you so much.