Delaumbre Bleue 1950

Curator: Well, what jumps out at you here in "Delaumbre Bleue"? Olle Baertling painted this in 1950, and it’s all sleek geometric shapes, painted with a sharp-edged kind of grace. Editor: Immediate impression? Organized chaos. It feels like somebody tossed a handful of colorful shapes onto a dark table, and they landed just so. There's a tension—a vibrancy despite the stillness. Curator: I think that controlled chaos is a good read. Baertling was a part of the Swedish modern art scene; he really embraced the non-objective possibilities. No story, no recognizable object... just form, line, and color. What do you think is this artwork saying? Editor: Form, line, and color can say plenty! Look at the stark contrast—the red aggressively pushing against the blue, everything grounded by the solid black. To me, it evokes a feeling of opposing forces, maybe even the social and political tensions bubbling up during the early Cold War era? Curator: Possibly. Post-war art really reflects the state of that climate, so it's fair that he's hinting towards that sentiment through these mediums. Editor: Or maybe it's just Baertling playing with our perceptions! Creating a visual puzzle where we search for meaning and order within his design, just as the society and governments try to establish world order through chaos. This also creates visual depth— the eye keeps moving around, trying to figure out which shapes are forward and which are back. That big white circle especially holds its own. Curator: Agreed, there’s a certain playfulness amidst the austerity, even within its restrictions. In any case, Delaumbre Bleue became an early, if rather emphatic, contribution to a long career of his works to come. His style helped bring further abstraction that shaped the era’s art scene. Editor: For sure, and that combination of starkness and invitation is something that pulls you in. I mean, I could stand here and ponder those clashing geometries for hours, honestly. Each time getting something different out of it, depending on the day!