Untitled 1973

Jose Escada made this untitled painting sometime between 1954 and 1980 using paint, likely oil or acrylic, applied in a grid-like pattern. Looking at it, I imagine Escada hunched over this painting, maybe on a small table, making these looping, intestinal forms, one square at a time. I can see him, lost in thought, each stroke a meditation. The palette is earthy – browns, blues, and mauves, with the occasional flash of orange – like colors found in nature but heightened, made stranger. The paint looks quite thin, staining the surface rather than sitting on top of it. There’s something hypnotic about the repetition, the way the lines curve and intertwine. I think of other pattern painters, maybe someone like Forrest Bess, or even Hilma af Klint, each using repetition and abstraction to explore inner worlds. Artists like Escada remind us that painting is an ongoing conversation, a way of making sense of the world, one gesture at a time.