Saber Dance 1952

Gene Davis made this ink drawing, Saber Dance, with a confident hand, like a calligrapher wielding a brush. I'm thinking of him in the zone, improvising. Look how the black ink bleeds into the paper, creating soft edges, and then contrasts with the sharp, decisive lines. There’s something primal about it, the push and pull between control and chance. The shapes remind me of figures, but they're dissolving, reforming, like memories or dreams. That scribbled texture in the background – is it writing? It's like a hidden code, a secret language Davis is playing with, and he's inviting us to decipher it. I love how he makes something so fleeting, so urgent, out of simple ink and paper. It’s an echo of Kline and Motherwell, maybe even a nod to the Abstract Expressionists, but it's all Davis's own voice, his own rhythm. The best paintings ask more questions than they answer, don't you think?