Wall Decoration c. 1938

This wall decoration was made by Martin Partyka, sometime between 1855 and 1995, and it looks like it might be watercolors or gouache on paper. It’s got this incredible surface, kind of grey and aged, with flowering branches and a decorative border snaking down the right. I’m really drawn to how the paint is worked here. It's not overworked. It feels really direct and intuitive. Look at the petals on these little red flowers; they’re built up from quick, almost impulsive strokes. You can really sense the hand of the artist, the way the brush moved, the pressure they applied. It’s so unpretentious. That visible process is what makes this piece so compelling to me. It feels like a dialogue, the artist responding to the material, making decisions on the fly. There’s a real freedom in the way the forms are defined, more suggested than described. I see something of Guston in this attitude; it reminds me that artmaking is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. It’s all about embracing the ambiguity, letting the work lead you, rather than the other way around.