Untitled 1982

This untitled painting, made by Maurice Esteve, features blocks of red, yellow, purple and blue, colliding in a harmonious balance of colour and form. I'm imagining Esteve circling the canvas, brush in hand, teasing out the shapes, adding more pigment, stepping back, adding more, until the painting is, well, done. I love how the paint here is thin, almost translucent. Each layer subtly changes the colour underneath. There is a kind of dance happening as each form emerges into being. It's like Esteve's channelling a feeling into the world, one that resonates with the kind of chromatic investigations we see in artists like Matisse. Ultimately, this piece reminds us that painting is a conversation across time, and that the artist can use paint to make a world appear before our eyes.