Number 43 (Abstract Painting, Yellow) 1947

Ad Reinhardt’s ‘Number 43 (Abstract Painting, Yellow)’ at MoMA is a smallish canvas covered in an all-over field of yellows and greens. I like to imagine him, in his New York studio, layering thin washes of paint, coaxing form from the ground up. This painting feels light, almost weightless, as if it could float off the wall. See how the paint is so thin in places, it's almost translucent? I bet you can sense Ad’s hand in the making of it; a dance of give and take, where each gesture builds on the last, finding a rhythm that feels both accidental and inevitable. I see a loose and open composition which reminds me of late Monet. These artists, from Monet to Reinhardt, are all in conversation, trying to push the possibilities of painting while also looking to the past. Painting doesn’t dictate what to see, it’s more like a conversation.