Surf and Bird 1940

Morris Graves made *Surf and Bird* using a muted palette, like colors you might find on a cloudy day at the beach. I can almost feel him painting this; a kind of shifting and searching with the brush. See how the bird emerges as a spirit from the dark washes of color. The paint is applied in thin layers, allowing the surface to breathe and glow. Graves must have been in conversation with other painters like Mark Tobey and his ‘white writing’. Look at the swirling marks around the bird. It’s as if Graves is trying to capture the essence of movement, not just of the bird, but of the waves, the wind, the whole environment. He invites us to contemplate the fragility of life, the interconnectedness of all things. It’s a reminder that artists don't work in a vacuum, but in a kind of exchange of ideas and feelings across time.