"Coincidence"

With echoes of Joseph Albers and Frank Stella, Robert Petrick’s "Coincidence" is a beautifully executed meditation on color and form. The palette is ambitious and daring. Petrick does not choose a conventional and accessible array of tones but instead a challenging and unique combination of colors that would almost surely result in an unsuccessful canvas in the hands of a less experienced painter. Petrick achieves this alchemy with his virtuoso navigation of form and balance. On paper, the idea of a light and yellowy green (lime?) foreground partially overlaid with a block of even yellowier green is unappealing to me. Still, in person, the combination is not only successful but positively beautiful. This green-on-green section is expressed with a delicate and quietly attention-grabbing air that grounds and informs the rest of the painting.