Variant/Adobe 1948

Josef Albers created this ‘Variant/Adobe’ painting with oil on masonite in the last century. Isn’t it amazing how he makes the painting seem to glow from the inside? It's all to do with the way he builds up those layers of slightly different colours, like he's slowly teasing out the light. The paint is so smooth and even, almost like it's been sprayed on. You can't really see the brushstrokes, which makes it feel really modern, almost industrial. Look at the subtle difference between the blacks. It's like he's trying to find every possible shade that exists. And those little pillars of darkness? They ground the whole thing, give it a sense of weight, like the painting could almost be a doorway. Albers reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, in how he's taking something super simple and making it totally absorbing. He shows that art isn't always about flash and drama, it can be about quiet observation and attention. It's a painting that asks you to slow down, look closely, and really see.