Regression in Movement 1962

Camille Graeser made this painting, Regression in Movement, with what looks like oil on canvas and a very particular idea of how color and shape can talk to each other. The texture is smooth and flat, almost like it's been ironed on. But when I look closer, I can just make out the tiniest brushstrokes. The colors aren't blended, they're just placed next to each other, like a puzzle. Red, yellow, blue, green, they're all there, shouting out in their own way. Then, in the middle, there is this little rhythm of squares and rectangles. It reminds me a bit of Mondrian but with a warmer feel. Graeser's got this thing for order, yet he makes it so playful, you know? Like he's saying, "Let's make a system, but let's not take it too seriously." Art, after all, is about embracing the unexpected, the things we can't quite put into neat little boxes.