Composition 1960

This is a painting by Jean Fautrier, probably made with watercolour or gouache and ink. It's all about soft greys and then these contrasting brighter strokes of yellow and blue, and then BAM, these dark, urgent, diagonal marks slashing across. I wonder if Fautrier began with the grey washes, letting them pool and stain the paper, like a memory fading in and out. Then, maybe, feeling like it needed a jolt, he added those optimistic sunny yellows and sky blues, like a burst of hope. But then something shifted, right? The dark lines feel like a counter-impulse, a quick, almost violent reaction to the prettiness. It’s like he’s saying, "No, don’t get too comfortable." And that’s what keeps me looking. It's like Fautrier is having a conversation with himself – a back and forth between beauty and unease, light and shadow. Painting, at its best, is an ongoing experiment with seeing and feeling and knowing. We all owe each other a debt of inspiration. There's no final word, just a constant remix.