Untitled 1974

Giorgio Cavallon made this untitled painting with oil on canvas, using a palette of browns, reds, yellows, and blues, offset with a large field of white. I can imagine Cavallon's process: he starts by applying colours in blocks and lets these shapes play off against each other. It’s like he’s searching for a harmony, adding and subtracting until something sings. Look at the brown block of colour on the left, how it bleeds into the pink, and then the red: it's a conversation in colour, each responding to the other. There's a generosity in his work; it’s not overworked, but confident. The white isn't just empty space, it's an active player, providing a kind of breathing room that allows the colours to resonate. This reminds me of other painters like Agnes Martin or even some of the early minimalists, artists who understood the power of simplicity and quiet contemplation. Ultimately, all artists are in conversation with each other, each adding their own voice to the ongoing story of painting.