Instrument de la passion 1957

Jean Bertholle’s “Instrument de la passion” feels like it was born from a collision of thoughts and emotions. The canvas is alive with these bricky reds, ochres, and blues. There are lines zinging across the surface like exposed nerves. I can almost imagine Bertholle in his studio, wrestling with the painting, adding layer upon layer, scratching, and scraping. He is probably thinking about what Kandinsky would do. He’s mixing up these muddy colors and then layering them with other colors. There’s a real tension between the flatness of the picture plane and the illusion of depth he creates. The dark lines, like shards of glass, cut through the composition. And that central form, almost like a broken heart, pulsating with an internal light. It reminds me of the work of other artists, like Bram van Velde or even some of Guston's later, more abstract stuff. Painters who aren’t afraid to get down and dirty with their materials. We are all in an ongoing conversation, you know. It’s messy, intuitive, and always open to new interpretations.