Vision Fugitive
This title was assigned by Galerie Romanet in Paris to describe the hundreds of abstract and subtle paintings Witten created from the 1970s through the 1990s. Witten considered these to be the fruition of his goals, his Ultima. After the previous effects on him of the Asian and Italian styles, these subtle and exciting patterns exclude any clear reference to real objects. In the words of Paris-Presse art critic René Barotte, these works express l’esprit de finesse et le grand équilibre of E.R.Witten. The result is a body of dramatic yet thoughtful works of illusion and suggestion – visions that are mingled and fleeting (the French meaning of “fugitive”). Witten’s visions fugitives are also redolent with nature, despite their mostly non-representational aspect. Barotte wrote: Cet artiste ne saurait se passer de la nature. Ses compositions raffinées et à la fois audacieuses sont un marriage heureux de l’abstrait et du figurative. The visions fugitives are refined and audacious: a happy marriage of the abstract and the figurative.
