Traverses 1961

Rene Duvillier made *Traverses* with oil paint, and you can see that the process was pretty physical and intuitive, like the shifting of sediment under the sea. There are these dark purple, almost mauve, marks, cascading and hanging down the canvas. But then there is this stick that looks like it's thrown right across the top – or maybe it's a horizon line? I can imagine Duvillier circling and stepping back, adding layer upon layer. Maybe he was thinking about how we navigate landscapes, both real and imagined. There's something kind of wild and untamed about the brushwork, and you see how the stroke itself becomes this record of movement and energy. I think of Joan Mitchell’s big sweeping gestures and even de Kooning's messy surfaces. All these painters are in conversation, and with this painting, Duvillier's added something to that mix, a uniquely personal, very felt, thing. Painting is an ongoing process, a traverse through marks and colours, that goes on and on.