The Window 1950

Hans Hofmann made this painting, The Window, with oil on canvas, and who knows when, exactly? It's a riot of color, like he threw the whole crayon box at it, but somehow it works. You can sense him figuring out the structure as he goes, each brushstroke a little decision, a correction, a dare. What’s interesting to me is how the paint sits on the surface. It's thick in places, pooling into these luscious globs, but then thin and washy elsewhere, like he wiped it away to reveal something underneath. Look at that smear of red near the bottom – it's like a heartbeat, a sudden burst of energy. And how he balances the yellow and green. I’d bet he used a palette knife for the yellow, so confident! He reminds me a bit of Joan Mitchell, another painter who wasn't afraid to get messy and let the paint do its thing. Ultimately, it’s not about what it depicts but how it makes you feel.