To understand the power of this work created in 1995, one must delve into the deep love McEwen held for literature and poetry—a common thread that guided his entire abstract evolution.

The Incarnation of Valéry's Poem

In his Cantique des colonnes, Paul Valéry celebrates those stone structures rising toward the sky, symbols of balance, silence, and mathematical purity ("Douces colonnes, aux / Chapeaux couronnés de jour..."). The artist visually transposes this poetic rhythm: the dark central form becomes his equivalent to the writer's stanzas—an immutable anchor around which the sensible chaos of the world organizes itself.

The Song of Verticality

Where the poet makes these architectural forms sing of their own presence and their relationship to clarity, the painter expresses this vibration through color. The duality between the dark central mass and the surrounding bursts of light creates a palpable tension. The canvas goes beyond mere physical representation to reveal its true essence: the transition from the heaviness of matter (translated by the rich impasto of the oil paint) to spiritual elevation.

The Maturity of a Maverick

Jean McEwen built an intimate body of work centered on the Color Field movement, nurtured by his travels to Paris and his literary affinities. In 1995, in the evening of his life, this Cantate emerges as a true profession of faith: visual art, much like pure poetry, is tasked with revealing the invisible and giving a voice to silence.

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