For Pearl 1970

This colour field painting called ‘For Pearl’ by Brice Marden presents three blocks of colour. The act of painting itself seems to have evolved intuitively; the colours feel like they've been worked, shifted, adjusted – like he kept going until they felt just right. The canvas is almost divided into three equal parts. Each block is a different colour: a dark grey, a rust red and a light golden colour. I feel like Marden labored with the layers, coaxing the colors to glow from within. It makes me think about Rothko and his sensitivity to colour. What was it like to stand in front of this canvas, holding a brush, mixing pigments, and trying to find the perfect hue? Did he keep thinking of Pearl? I imagine his mind was completely absorbed in the process, lost in a world of color and light. Painters are always in conversation with one another across time. Marden’s paintings invite us to slow down, to contemplate, and to experience the quiet power of color.