Night 1907

Wassily Kandinsky made 'Night,' a small gouache on paper, with dreamy, almost musical mark-making. The image is of night, but it's like a kid's night, full of wonder and a little bit scary. Look at the way he uses these simple blobs of color, especially in the dresses and in the sky. It’s like he’s figuring out what painting is as he goes, embracing the raw potential of each stroke. The texture is so important here; it's not about hiding the process. You see the little dots, the swipes, how the colors bump up against each other. This builds a relationship with the picture. It's like Kandinsky is asking us, what does it mean to feel night, to feel color? I think of children’s book illustration and of Joan Miró, both conjuring a similar sense of freedom and naivety. 'Night' isn't trying to give you answers, it just wants you to hang out in the question with it.