UNTITLED 1946

Alexander Calder made this Untitled watercolor in Paris, 1946, and what strikes me first is how immediate it feels. It’s all about the process, you know? There’s this sunny yellow wash bleeding across the top, meeting the playful biomorphic shapes in grays and blacks. The texture is thin and washy, like he was just letting the pigments do their thing. You can almost see the ghost of his hand moving across the page. Look at that drippy edge where the grey meets the white of the paper – it’s like the painting is breathing, alive. It makes me think about Joan Miró, another artist who wasn't afraid to let his subconscious lead the way. In the end, it’s not about perfection, it’s about the energy and the conversation between the artist and the materials. It’s a reminder that art is always an experiment, a back-and-forth, never really finished.