Beside the Sea No. 22 1962

Robert Motherwell's Beside the Sea No. 22 shimmers with blue and black paint on canvas. Look at that vertical stroke of blue that cascades down the canvas, like a waterfall or maybe even a tear. I can imagine Motherwell standing before the canvas, brush loaded, letting the paint drip and splash, each mark a response to something felt, a moment lived. The lower part of the canvas is anchored by a bold, dark mass, a horizon line that could be earth or water. It's like he's capturing the essence of the sea, not in its details, but in its raw, emotional power. I wonder if, as he painted, he thought about his contemporaries, the other abstract expressionists like de Kooning and Pollock, all grappling with how to express the inexpressible. Painting, for Motherwell, wasn't just about making something beautiful; it was about thinking, feeling, and being in the world. Each gesture is part of a conversation with himself, with art history, and with us. And that, I think, is what makes it so compelling.