Painted canvas fragment c. 20th century

Curator: We're looking at "Painted canvas fragment" by Barnett Newman. It's a small, irregularly shaped piece, about 7 by 5 inches, and housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It strikes me as rather intense, doesn't it? That bold orange against the grey—it feels almost like a signal, a visual shout. Curator: Newman was all about stripping things down to their essence. This scrap, it’s pure color, a raw, unmediated experience. Maybe he saw a potential universe in this tiny piece? Editor: Or perhaps it's a fragment of something lost, a relic hinting at a larger narrative, like a shard of pottery from a vanished civilization imbued with the memory of a whole. Curator: It's funny how such a small thing can trigger such big thoughts, isn’t it? Editor: Precisely! A testament to the potent symbolism held within even the humblest of remnants.