Composition 16 1956

Beauford Delaney made this painting, "Composition 16", with paint, of course, probably oil, and you can see that he was really feeling it, just letting the colours mingle and layer. The surface is so alive, isn't it? Thick swirls of yellow and green on top, with glimpses of red and brown peeking through underneath. I love how the paint seems to have a life of its own, those little marks suggesting movement and energy. See how the center glows, almost like a light source, and then your eye is drawn down to the lower section, where darker hues create a sense of depth. It's a very physical process he’s got going on, you can almost imagine him wrestling with the paint, pushing it around, and letting it do its thing. Delaney, like Turner, was interested in pushing the limits of colour and abstraction. He’s part of an ongoing conversation about what paint can do, what it can express, when you let go of trying to control it too much.