Pichetroué 1974

Maurice Esteve made this painting, Pichetroué, with oil on canvas. Look at how the colours here create a kind of luminous architecture, where yellows, reds and greens butt up against each other, softened with whites and greys. It’s all about the process of building up layers, adding and subtracting shapes to create a sense of depth. The paint application is key; Esteve uses a mix of thin washes and thicker, more opaque strokes. Notice the confident, almost nonchalant way he applies the paint. The eye is drawn to the way he scratches the surface; it’s a very physical process that is evident. These details give the work a feeling of immediacy. It’s about the artist working through the problems of composition in real time. Esteve reminds me a bit of Alfred Manessier, another French artist who was interested in the possibilities of abstraction. But where Manessier can be quite lyrical, Esteve is more grounded, more interested in the nuts and bolts of painting itself. It's about the exchange of ideas across time. This painting doesn’t offer easy answers but invites you to participate in its playful, ambiguous world.