Untitled 1957

This untitled painting was made by Jimmy Ernst, probably with oils or acrylics on canvas, though I can't be sure of when exactly. The paint application looks pretty intuitive, with transparent washes and delicate linear details all coming together. It feels like Ernst is feeling his way through the composition, a bit like how I do in my own work. Look at the surface – the way the paint is built up and then scraped back, revealing layers of color. I'm drawn to the way he balances the warm oranges and yellows with the cool blues. See that cluster of fine lines towards the top left? It's as if he’s building a delicate web, or a network of connections. It's not about representing something specific, more like capturing a feeling. Ernst was part of a generation wrestling with abstraction. His work reminds me a little of some of the later paintings of Dove - where he was exploring similar ideas about space and colour. Ultimately, this painting is a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, with each artist adding their voice to the mix.