Cubist Composition 1920

Georges Valmier made this Cubist Composition with watercolour, gouache and ink on paper, and it feels like looking through the fragmented lens of memory. The earth-toned palette is punctuated by moments of cool blues and greens, like unexpected breaths of fresh air. It’s as if Valmier is mapping out a space not as it is seen, but as it is felt. I’m drawn to the interplay between geometric forms and organic shapes. Look at that little spiral, tucked away in the upper left of the painting, it is a focal point, a detail that disrupts the strict geometry, suggesting a sense of movement and flow. Valmier’s handling of the materials is exquisite; the thin washes of colour allow the texture of the paper to peek through, giving the work a delicate, almost ethereal quality. His approach reminds me of Juan Gris who also embraced collage and fragmentation, but Valmier brings a unique sensibility to abstraction. It is a conversation between form and feeling, structure and spontaneity.