Painting #03-06 2003

Rudolf de Crignis’s Painting #03-06 is a serene, solid blue square, and I can imagine him, brush in hand, circling around this canvas, trying to get it just so. The blue itself feels both deep and matte, so the surface almost repels light, creating this calm, quiet space. I can imagine De Crignis lost in the subtleties of tone, maybe even thinking about other blues in art history. Like Yves Klein, with his patented International Klein Blue, a colour that felt like a portal to another dimension. Or maybe even back to Giotto, who used ultramarine to create a heavenly sense of space in his frescoes. There’s something radical about committing to such a simple gesture, such an everyday colour. It’s like he’s saying, “Look, painting doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be about pure sensation, about being present with colour and form.” And that, in itself, is a pretty powerful statement.