Untitled 1934

Clyfford Still created this untitled oil painting on canvas with dominant dark browns, off-whites, and blues. I can imagine him wrestling with the canvas, each stroke a negotiation between intention and accident, slowly coaxing out a ghostly figure. I sympathize with his process, building up layers of paint, scraping back, and re-evaluating. See how the figure strides forward with open hands, yet the face is blank, a featureless mask? Still's thick application of paint creates a palpable texture, almost like dried earth or cracked skin, which makes the figure feel both ancient and raw. The brushwork around the figure is gestural, evoking a sense of urgency and emotional intensity. This reminds me of other artists who, like Still, were interested in the primal aspects of human existence, like Francis Bacon or even some of the German Expressionists. Ultimately, painters are always talking to each other across time, in an ongoing exchange of ideas, each inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling. It's painting as a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty.