Painterly-Architectonic 1918

Lyubov Popova made "Painterly-Architectonic" with oil on canvas, and what I immediately notice is the brave geometry. Look at the top, where these floating, pale shapes bump up against the blues - it's like the painting is breathing. Popova lays down these cool, confident planes. The surfaces are surprisingly textured, with visible brushstrokes that give away the artist’s hand, resisting the perfect, machine-like finish that was so in vogue at the time. It's not just about the idea of the shape, but the physical experience of the paint. That big, black triangle, isn't just black. It’s built up with layers, it has a density, like tar, or a shadow cast in space. Popova reminds me of Hilma af Klint, another mystic explorer of form. Both artists invite us to see the world not as a fixed thing, but as an ongoing process, full of hidden dimensions.