Untitled 1939

Here's an 'Untitled' gouache painting made by Serge Brignoni in 1939. It’s an abstract world of bright yellows and reds. I’m immediately drawn to the bold gestural marks, those lines trailing across the red ground. I wonder what Brignoni was thinking as he made this. I imagine him, brush in hand, coaxing these shapes to life. The paint looks quite thin, almost watery, which gives it a delicate, ethereal quality. The yellow feels vibrant against the red, creating a sense of energy and movement. It makes me think about the push and pull between control and chance in painting; the artist has an idea, but the materials also have their own say. This piece resonates with other surrealist painters I admire, artists who explored the subconscious and tapped into a world of dreams and symbols. It's like Brignoni is speaking a language that transcends words. As painters, we're always in conversation, riffing off each other's ideas across time. Each painting is a new question in an ongoing dialogue.