The Clock 1951

Karl Knaths made 'The Clock' using thick daubs of vivid colour – a palette that vibrates between hot reds and cool blues. I can almost feel the push and pull of his brush as he built up the layers, each stroke a deliberate act of exploration. I imagine Knaths, squinting at his subject, trying to capture not just its appearance, but its essence. What was he thinking when he juxtaposed the mundane reality of a clock with the vibrant energy of abstract form? I love the way the edges blur, colours bleed into one another, inviting us to see beyond the surface. The red is the punchy, assertive kind, like a shout in a quiet room! This feels in conversation with work by painters like Marsden Hartley who were trying to fuse European modernism with American themes, or maybe Stuart Davis, who was so good at making visual jazz! Painting is, at its heart, a conversation, artists talking to each other across generations. Each mark, each gesture, is a response, a question, and a possibility.