Experience-Untitled 1957

Avigdor Arikha made this untitled painting using oil, giving us a window into his process. The painting is full of tentative shapes, like he was thinking out loud with his brush. Look at the cluster of objects at the bottom. There’s a real tension between the browns and blues, the solid geometry and uncertain edges. I love that little red square right in the middle, holding the whole thing together. The paint is applied with a certain searching quality, which makes you think about the artist trying to capture a fleeting sensation. Arikha’s work often focused on direct observation and his commitment to realism. But there's also a strong abstract quality, which reminds me a little of the work of Giorgio Morandi, who also spent his career refining the act of looking. This piece invites us to find poetry in the everyday, and to revel in the uncertainties of perception.