"Cool" Series (Dark Pink over Brown) 1963

Perle Fine created "Cool" Series (Dark Pink over Brown) with paint, and I bet she was in a state of experimentation. The brown, almost like a stained wood panel, feels like it has been layered, rubbed, and then revealed. The strokes of the brush have a horizontal quality, but the dark pink rectangle sings out. I can imagine Perle Fine playing with degrees of opacity, with the push and pull of color. Was she thinking of Rothko? I wonder if she had the same sense of stillness when she was making it. This interplay between the two colors makes me think about the way we negotiate space and form, the kind of understated rigor that comes when you mix intellect and just a little bit of feeling.