Mass Tone Painting: Alizarin Crimson, April 24, 1974

Since the early 1970s Marcia Hafif has systematically examined the fundamentals of painting, often through complex monochrome canvases. Hafif mixes her own paint, grinding a pigment with a muller—a heavy stone or weight—and combining it with linseed oil. Mass Tone Painting: Alizarin Crimson, titled after the specific red-toned pigment used, is from the first series of paintings Hafif prepared in this way. She explained, “I found a beauty in the colors beyond what I had ever seen in tube paint.” Unlike commercial tube paint, her handmade paints can behave unpredictably. She chose this painstaking technique because, in her words, it “lets a color . . . express itself, reveal its multiple nuances.”