Abstract Expressionist Autumn Sky 1953

Audrey Flack’s "Abstract Expressionist Autumn Sky," must have come into being through a flurry of gestural marks, a shifting and emerging process of trial, error, and intuition. I can just imagine Flack standing before her canvas, armed with brushes and a palette of fiery hues: yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. What’s it like to be her in that moment? She’s layering strokes with confidence, maybe with a little trepidation. The paint looks fairly thick, building up a textured surface. This is how she makes a mark, how she shows intention, meaning, and feeling. The white streaks seem to dance across the canvas, creating a sense of movement. Flack, like so many of us painters, carries on a conversation with the history of painting, with Abstract Expressionism, but she's also finding her own voice, celebrating the beauty and transience of nature, of the sky, of autumn. This embodies the ambiguity and uncertainty that allows for multiple readings.