Page 61 - Studio International - February 1965

uncharted no-man's land sinking back. away from the in horizontal bands much as the shingles are applied to
dominant lighter forms. These in turn are emphasized New England cottage roofs. He still shies away from
when Morales builds them into moderate relief. their gracious colours. preferring raw contrasts and even
edges casting slight shadows into the depth of black. muddied surfaces. Yet, a certain stringency of purpose
Associations of landscape are unavoidable. yet has entered and with it a shift in attitude.
Morales invents vigorous shapes that are abstract and Richenburg's movement in general is toward a
often scores them with straight, or broken-stitched reconciliation of the freedom of abstract expressionism
lines. The imagination can stay on the surface of these (gesture and texture above all) with strong structuring.
paintings, taking in the subtle textures, the abrupt But a new element has entered: a preoccupation with
shifts in mood. the elegant contrasts of tone and shape, the strange symmetries that haunt the symbolist's
or it can be carried into the fantasy Morales weaves of imagination. It is seen in a compelling large painting
a sombre but beautiful place far away at the limits of where midnight blue shingling on a large area is
the universe. His frequent use of ve1y broad curves has interrupted below by a double image that moves out
an edge-of-the-world quality. in identical patterns from a vertical bar. Here the
For all the romantic sources sensed in Morales· continuity above and the division below present queer
painting, there is a toughness that keeps them in echoes. Symmetry. when offered in such strange
check. It is clear that he is interested in what are juxtapositions, becomes mystery.
loosely called pure painterly problems. and that the In some of the smaller canvases, with window and
poetry he achieves is the result of disciplined specula­ door apertures, a dark lyricism prevails. Richenburg has
tion as to how far abstraction can go. a vision. I sense struggle and sometimes despair in his
Robert Richenburg, whose rude, obsessive style has efforts to exteriorize it Yet it is always there. giving his
Kenneth Noland never failed to interest me, has moved into a new p;iintings their curious dissonances. their odd configura­
Ma,:h 2, 1964 period in his work at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery. He is tions of organic and inorganic references, and finally,
Acrylic resin on canvas 98 x 208 111.
Andre Emmerich Gallery still using small patches of painted canvas, often ranged their awkward power. conrinued overfe3f

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