Untitled (Suite 'Blancs') 1973

Simon Hantai made this untitled painting from the 'Blancs' series with oil on canvas at an unknown date. Wow, what a surface! I wonder what it felt like to make this. I can imagine Hantai in his studio, carefully, painstakingly placing each colourful fleck onto the white ground. I imagine him being in a state of focused meditation, patiently building up this shimmering constellation of marks. Each little gesture, a tiny act of intention, contributing to the whole. There's something playful and delicate about the way Hantai works with color. Little bits of orange, blue, purple, and green dance across the canvas, creating a vibrant energy. It is almost as if he's trying to capture a fleeting moment, like a memory or a dream. Hantai reminds us that paintings aren't just objects; they're alive with the traces of human touch and the energy of the artist who made them. You can almost feel him there, brush in hand, lost in his thoughts, as he makes his marks.