Composition (Mother With Child) 1960

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this painting of a mother and child with oil paint. The forms are built up with slabs of color, like stacked bricks. There is something about this method of building up the image that resonates with me. Painting can be a process of layering, adding, and adjusting until something emerges. Each stroke is a decision, a response to what came before. Look at the green marks on the left side, they seem to hover between representation and abstraction. The texture of the paint is evident, it's thick and slightly uneven, which adds to the overall sense of materiality. There's a raw, honest quality to the application of paint that invites you to consider the artist's process. The way he works with color reminds me of Milton Avery, someone else who wasn't afraid to simplify and play with tones. Ultimately, this painting celebrates the act of seeing and feeling.