Conversation 1946

Jean-Paul Riopelle made this small artwork, titled "Conversation", with watercolor. It's all about the brushstrokes, and how they pile up to make something you can almost, but not quite, put your finger on. The material quality of watercolor is so important here. The way it bleeds and blends, the way it's both controlled and wild. Look at the dark lines, they are like branches scratching across the surface. The yellow in the upper part feels like light bursting through. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbles or maybe even Joan Mitchell’s abstract landscapes, it’s about how artists keep talking to each other across time, borrowing and riffing, never quite saying the same thing but always in the same conversation. Art is not about answers, it's about asking questions in different ways.