Composition II 1916

Patrick Henry Bruce made "Composition II" with oil paint on canvas, a very conventional choice of materials for painting in the early 20th century. But look how he handled it. Rather than using the oil paint to represent something, Bruce seems interested in its pure material qualities. He has built up layers of color, one next to the other. There's a real physicality to the application, and you can see the texture that results. It’s a very deliberate process of brushstrokes and blending, seemingly untouched by industrial mass production. Bruce takes these simple gestures, such as blending and layering, as the very subject of his art. There is a strong tension here between the artist's hand and the geometric forms, as if Bruce wanted to bring these traditional materials to the modern age. In the end, it is the quality of the oil paint itself that prevails.