Mainly Ultramarine and Venetian: November 1966 (1966)
Patrick Heron was an artist who explored the relationships between color and form in his canvases, freely alternating between figuration and abstraction. In this landmark canvas, the artist’s consistent attention to the power of color is made evident through the title, which makes references to the two most prominent colors that fill the picture plane (a gesture that Heron also employs in another painting of his on view, Blue Square Inside Violet Square (Scarlet): July 1961).
While a large part of the left area is covered in deep, rich shade of ultramarine, the right half is painted in venetian red that is close to the color of soil. In both sections, various shapes of cerulean are inserted to connect the two contrasting colors, and the lower edge of the painting, along with a small portion within the ultramarine area, is painted in darker navy that adds a sense of weight to the painting. The opposite end, on the other hand, is painted in bright red that stands in sharp contrast to the relatively muted color palette that persists throughout the composition. The painting thus reveals the ways in which Heron balances out colors of differing hues and tones, allowing an endless conversation to unfold between them.
