Diagonale 1954

Ernst Wilhelm Nay made "Diagonale" with watercolor, and you can tell he wasn't trying to hide the process. The colours feel breezy, almost like they're breathing, and the black marks are so bold, they really grab your attention. It’s this dance between the controlled and the spontaneous that gets me thinking about how we see and experience the world. Look at the way Nay layers those colours, letting them bleed into each other just enough. There is a real softness to the touch. Then those sharp, diagonal lines come in, creating this push and pull, like two different worlds colliding. The thin lines act as threads tying together what otherwise seem to be loose marks. This piece reminds me a little of Kandinsky’s earlier, more playful works. Both artists aren’t afraid to let their feelings guide their brush, resulting in paintings that are as much about the journey as they are about the destination. Art is an ongoing conversation, full of surprises and open to endless interpretations.