Glaze Painting: Cobalt Violet 1995

Marcia Hafif made "Glaze Painting: Cobalt Violet" with what looks like layers of oil paint, creating a luminous surface. It’s wild to think about this painting as a process, a slow accumulation of veils of color. Up close, you can see the subtle variations in tone, the way the cobalt violet shifts and breathes. Hafif's method embraces the physicality of the medium. The paint isn't thick or gestural, but there’s a clear sense of the hand at work, carefully layering the pigment. Look at the way the color pools slightly at the bottom edge. It’s like she's allowing the paint to do its thing, finding its own level, creating this gentle gradation that draws you in. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's subtle grids, or maybe even a Rothko, but with its own distinct, quiet energy. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art is an ongoing experiment, a conversation across time and space, with no single, definitive meaning.