Untitled (Red)

The object is one of Piene’s fire "gouaches," a vertical chain of five circles of dry pigment that has been scorched and blackened with the aid of fire, on a pigment-coated board. The blistered, sooty texture of the circles and halo effect of the burning procedure contrast strongly with the red pigment coating of the support. According to the donor, to whom the object was dedicated, the support is pre-coated paper that Piene referred to as "Swedish carton," and that fades fairly rapidly when exposed to light. The dry pigment was probably ignited and burned using a bunch of candles. (The burning of the pigment on the recto side has penetrated the board, as can be seen from scorch marks on the verso.) Otherwise, the apparent good condition of this object stems from the fact that it has "never" been exposed to light.