Phenomena Chinese Red

Rivers of color spill across this canvas as if the paint decided its own destination. Paul Jenkins made "Phenomena Chinese Red" by thinning his pigments and pouring them onto the surface, then tilting the canvas to let gravity do much of the work. Blues seep into the corners like ink soaking through paper, streaks of green and yellow cut through the center, and a strong red form settles near the bottom to hold everything together. The whole thing has the feel of a natural event caught mid-motion rather than a picture someone sat down to plan.

An American painter active from the mid to late twentieth century, Jenkins is often grouped with the Abstract Expressionists and the color field artists. He gave almost every work the same first name, "Phenomena," followed by a short phrase, because he thought of his paintings as happenings in nature instead of fixed scenes. Rather than a brush, he often used an ivory knife to guide the flowing paint, nudging the colors along without ever quite touching them. The reward for the viewer is simple pleasure in watching how these hues meet, blend, and settle into a balance all their own.