4 sphères 1960

Marcelle Cahn made this painting, called 4 sphères, with simple shapes and a limited palette of black, grey, white, and small accents of red. It looks like she’s exploring a way of seeing the world as an arrangement of geometric forms, like a blueprint for an imaginary city. The surface is quite flat and smooth, which gives the painting a kind of cool, industrial feel. The colors are applied in thin layers, almost like translucent washes and the lines are crisp and precise, creating a sense of clarity and order. I’m particularly drawn to the way the small red rectangles are scattered throughout the composition, acting as visual anchors that pull the eye around the canvas. Cahn’s work reminds me a bit of Mondrian, but with a more playful and intuitive sensibility. Both artists were interested in reducing reality to its most essential forms, but Cahn seems less concerned with strict geometric purity and more open to improvisation and chance. Ultimately, the painting invites us to embrace ambiguity and to find beauty in the unexpected.