The Blessing 1944

Barnett Newman made this, The Blessing, with crayon and charcoal. It seems to have emerged bit by bit, shifting and coming into being through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Newman, because I can imagine what it was like to create it. What he might have been thinking when he made it? The charcoal gives it an earthy, almost prehistoric feel. The texture and surface are rough, like a cave painting. The orange circle at the center, with its dangling tail, is balanced by the blue and green form on the left. That blue mark looks like a brushstroke, but it’s crayon! It’s as if Newman is searching for something, feeling his way through the dark. Newman was in conversation with lots of other artists. He inspires my own creativity, so I’m always looking for a blessing in the marks. Painting is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning over fixed readings.