Rich Art 1973

Audrey Flack made this luscious painting, Rich Art, out of oil paint. It’s got this super realist sheen to it, but it feels like the process is really right there on the surface. The way she renders the glass of water with the refractions, and the wet-look sheen of the surface, reminds me of Vanitas painting, but with a modern edge, like Richard Estes meets the Dutch Masters. It’s not about moralizing, though, it’s about painting! Look at the gorgeous reflections of the paint jars: blues, reds, yellows. The single brush, tipped in red, is such a great touch. It makes the whole thing feel, well, like it’s actually being painted. Flack is interested in how things look and how she can capture that look, and for her, that means really digging into the colors and textures that make up our visual world. Seeing paintings like this one always reminds me that, ultimately, art is about looking, and then looking again.