Tricolor 1959

Robert Motherwell made this painting, Tricolor, with ink and gouache on paper. I see the gesture first: blotches of color, drippy marks of black ink—red, white, blue—and this reminds me of Jasper Johns’ flags, but also of the New York School ethos: that painting can be a place for an action, a thought, a feeling. I imagine Motherwell in his studio, making marks, then covering them up, then adding more. The painting feels like a record of that process: a conversation between the artist and the canvas. What was he thinking? Maybe something about war, the American flag, loss, or something completely different. I love how painting can do that: it’s open to so many interpretations. I think about all the other artists who have worked with similar ideas, like Johns, or even more recently, someone like Rashid Johnson—all talking to each other across time. Isn't that just painting?