Painted canvas fragment c. 20th century

Curator: Before us, we have Barnett Newman's "Painted canvas fragment," an oddly compelling piece in the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: My first thought: it's just a rectangle of bright orange. What makes this small scrap so significant? Curator: Newman was deeply interested in the sublime, and how art could provoke a direct, almost spiritual experience. Editor: But it’s just a fragment! How does a leftover bit of canvas speak to the sublime? Was it rescued from the studio floor? Curator: Its power lies precisely in its materiality – the texture of the paint, the weave of the canvas, the very act of its making. Newman challenges the hierarchy of artistic production by presenting the overlooked. Editor: I suppose its survival makes it worthy of study. It makes you consider all the invisible labor that goes into making art. Curator: Precisely, what we are seeing here is a potent symbol of the artist's vision and the cultural conditions of its creation. Editor: I'll admit, I find a strange beauty in its raw simplicity after our conversation.