Untitled 1948

Clyfford Still made this untitled oil on canvas sometime around 1944. What strikes me is the rawness of it, the canvas peeking through. The colours, a sort of muted cream, zing with a bold, almost electric blue and a fiery orange. Up close you can see how Still applied the paint, not trying to blend it perfectly, but letting each stroke stand on its own. There’s a real tension, as the colours almost seem to fight for space. That dribble of red in the orange section, feels raw, like a wound. It’s like he’s wrestling with something internal, a struggle that plays out right here on the canvas. Still’s work has echoes of Rothko’s colour fields, but where Rothko feels meditative, Still is all jagged edges and untamed energy. He invites us to feel the messy, unresolved nature of being.