Cronos 29 1982

Rene Duvillier made this abstract piece, Cronos 29, sometime in the 20th century using paint on what looks like thin card. The colour is mostly orange and peach, but it’s been dabbed and smeared so that it's soft and cloudy. It’s got this gentle, almost floral vibe; like some kind of otherworldly rose. I can imagine Duvillier gently coaxing the paint across the surface, letting it pool and settle, seeing what happens. The more concentrated marks in the center feel like the key to the whole piece. The way the paint is built up there, thick and textured, gives it a real presence. I’m thinking of other artists who experimented with colour, like Helen Frankenthaler, but in a completely different way. You can see painters testing the limits of what paint can do, it's all one big conversation. It's a beautiful reminder that painting is about so much more than just what you see. It's about feeling and intuition.