Composition 1922

Janos Mattis-Teutsch made this vibrant painting called Composition, and what hits you first is probably the pure saturated colour, daubs of yellow, green, blue and red, bounded by loose black lines. The colour is laid on pretty thickly, but the feeling is of speed, as if it was all done in one go. There's an area down at the bottom where the brushwork feels really free, with the yellow and blue strokes blending together to make a kind of hazy, atmospheric effect. That softness really contrasts with the sharp angles of those black lines slicing through the composition. Mattis-Teutsch was part of a wave of early twentieth century expressionists, and for me, this piece really speaks to the way artists like Kandinsky were trying to make music visible, using pure colour and form to create an emotional experience. It's not about representing the world, but about feeling it.