Small Yellow: January 1973 1973

Patrick Heron made Small Yellow: January 1973 using screen printing, a process where ink is pushed through a stencil. It’s like a sophisticated form of stenciling, and you can see how that process lends itself to these flat, graphic shapes. The colors are layered in such a way that they create depth and vibration. Look at the edges where the yellow meets the red. There’s no hard line, but a kind of hazy interaction, like the colors are breathing together. The shapes themselves are so organic, like cells dividing or maybe the contours of a landscape seen from above. The whole piece has this energy, a feeling of movement and growth. Heron reminds me a bit of Matisse, especially in the way he uses color to create space and light. But where Matisse is all about capturing a sense of place, Heron seems more interested in the pure sensation of color itself.