::: Artist: Barnett Newman/ Title: "Voice of Fire" (18 ft.)/ Medium: Oil on canvas/ Genre: Abstract Impressionism/ Owned: National Gallery of Canada/ Purchased: 1970 - $1.76 million./ ::: I liked 'Voice of Fire' by Newman almost immediately, but before concluding anything about it I needed to see it in person at the National Gallery in Ottawa. I was not quite prepared for the pure power and emotional intensity of the piece, within context of how the Gallery chose to display it. 'Voice of Fire' is affecting when seen at a distance as it dominates the entire room with such an exquisite display of lighting, both natural and artificial, that bounces off the canvas at various times of day leaving an oddly contemplative almost Zen-like state of unmistakable calm./ There was a kind of reverse snobbism going on with Newman's painting by pretending that any child could have painted it. So could an elephant, or a cat. The fact is that it was Newman who did visualize it, chose the medium, its volume and mass, its strength, its mathematical exactness doing a piece of work that challenges anyone viewing it up close and personal to also challenge one's ideas about what constitutes "art"? ::: By my own admission, I am not a huge 'fan' of abstract art by any definition. As with some forms of Jazz, the subleties and nuances of colour in abstract art at times escape me. I have never understood Jackson Pollock's work, but then to be fair, I have never seen any of his art work in person. I suspect that I could never achieve the kind of lack of emotional restraint and the freedom of physical movement that a Pollock or a Rothko exhibited. I'd have named the work these people do "liberation art" rather than than "impressionism". ::: Out of curiosity, I wonder how much the stretched canvas and the oil paint cost given it's eighteen foot dimensions? That's a lot of canvas and a whole lot of paint that didn't come out of the Sico paint company. Just what "red" and "blue" are they? They aren't accidental. Why eighteen feet? Things get a little more complicated. Voice of Fire is an arresting piece and I love it. :::