Jurassic 1942

Willi Baumeister made this painting, Jurassic, with a kind of alchemic fervor, it feels like he’s trying to turn lead into gold. Look closely at how he's built up the surface; it's almost sculptural. The textures are thick, with a kind of primeval ooze quality. The colours are muted, silvery grey and gold, like something dredged up from the deep past. There's this one area on the right, where the paint seems to claw upwards, forming a crown or a jagged mountain. I love how it catches the light, creating these tiny, shimmering highlights. It's rough, yes, but also strangely elegant. Baumeister’s work reminds me of Antoni Tàpies, who also liked to play with texture and earthy tones. But where Tàpies feels grounded, Baumeister feels more like he’s reaching for something unknown. Ultimately, I think, art is like that, a conversation across time, full of whispers and echoes, always open to interpretation.