Untitled 1946 - 1947

William Baziotes made this untitled watercolour on paper, and it’s a great example of how art is really about the process. Look at the way he's layered the colours – blacks and browns, offset with a bright, almost lurid pink and a splodge of green. It's like he's building the image up from the ground, responding to each mark as he goes. The surface is alive with different textures, from the washy, transparent areas to the more opaque, solid shapes. The lines are like exposed armatures, giving the painting structure. There’s this circular form at the top, this eye-like shape, ringed with pink and punctuated with these little white dashes. It's both playful and slightly unnerving, a bit like some of Miro's biomorphic shapes, or maybe even some of Gorky's more surreal compositions. Ultimately, this piece reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, a constant exchange of ideas and influences across time. It’s a space where ambiguity and multiple interpretations are not only welcome, but actively encouraged.