Paintings such as this are part of why I can’t complete accept the scientific distancing that is a common attribute of Formalism. The Formalist approach would to be analyze the form and content, but not to take into account the life of the artist. Through the eyes a Formalist, this piece is valid because it uses different tones of white, cream, and grey. It also experiments with a variety of texture, using both lumpy nodules and defined edges to provide contrast and bring attention directly to the center of the canvas. These edges create interesting tilted angles within the piece and the bottom half has lines that radiate farther away from the center, which gives the appearance of a more heavily weighted bottom half that is additionally accentuated by spots of grey coloration. The top is also darker colored and set farther back, which highlights the depth of field and makes the farthest and lightest parts of the painting seem even farther out.
All of this is very interesting and relevant to the work, however, it leaves out all human aspects of the work. I often have this problem with Formalism because it denies some very important aspects of this painting. One of the reasons that this painting is so coveted is because of the artist’s process of creating it. She spent nearly fifteen years layering paint on the canvas and chipping it away until she finally came up with the image she was satisfied with. This background information undoubtedly adds additional value to the work when you see how much time and effort and intent was behind the work, even if it isn’t initially apparent by simply viewing the work.
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