Synchromy in Orange: To Form 1914

Morgan Russell built this “Synchromy in Orange” piece with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is the way the shapes emerge out of each other. I can imagine him working on this, laying down these jewel-tone colors – the blues, reds, greens, and yellows – and feeling his way through the composition. The edges feel soft, and the whole thing has a kind of kaleidoscopic effect. Look at the way the yellow and red meet, tilting against one another. It feels like he’s exploring the push and pull between colors. There's an exuberance here, an artist working towards a new visual language. You can see the influence of other early abstractionists like Sonia Delaunay in the way the colors are arranged and in the geometric forms. Artists are always talking to each other, even across time, riffing off each other's ideas, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. It’s all one big conversation!