Composition II 1955

Huguette Arthur Bertrand made this painting, Composition II, using layers of colourful brushstrokes, almost like she's mapping a hidden world.   It's got this cool, jazzy rhythm, right? The blues and oranges and blacks are just zinging across the surface, creating a dance that feels both chaotic and totally ordered. I love how you can see the evidence of her hand in every stroke; the paint isn't trying to hide, it's out there, bold and unapologetic. Check out that one thick black slash right in the middle. It's like a punctuation mark, a sudden interruption that changes the whole feeling of the piece. It reminds me a little of Joan Mitchell, how she could make abstract forms feel so emotionally charged. But Bertrand's got her own thing going on, a unique voice in the conversation of abstract painting. It's never about fixed meanings, more about the endless possibilities of seeing.