Variations 1953

Cesar Domela’s painting offers a serene and meditative study in colour and line. Can you imagine Domela circling the canvas, lost in thought, brush in hand? The painting’s teal background feels like a calm ocean, over which float various biomorphic forms and looping lines, each outlined with precision. There’s a pale blue shape, echoed by a darker blue-black; a soft pink, balanced by a bold red. But it’s the lines – gold, black, white, blue – that really sing. They dance and weave, creating a sense of movement and rhythm. There’s a feeling of early abstraction here, of painters like Kandinsky and Arp. These artists were all trying to find a new language for painting, a language that spoke to the inner world of feeling and experience. With its simple shapes and colours, Domela’s painting creates a space for contemplation, a place where we can wander and wonder.