Rhapsody in Blue

Eric’s Rhapsody in Blue exemplifies the non-objective works he created for personal exploration, which he termed his “Art-Art.” Composed of fragments of his hand-painted tissue papers—drawn from his flat-file palette and arranged atop a royal blue ground—the collage demonstrates his sensitivity to surface and rhythm. While the composition initially appears monochromatic, closer examination reveals nuanced variation: scattered white tissues patterned with polka dots are confined to the upper register, where they hover like musical notes or constellations.

The title, evoking George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, underscores Eric’s lifelong devotion to music, especially jazz, which he listened to throughout his working day and at home. More broadly, the work situates Eric within the lineage of mid-20^th-century abstraction, recalling both the chromatic lyricism of Abstract Expressionism and the improvisatory qualities of jazz-inspired visual art. In these privately conceived works, Eric pursued a parallel practice distinct from his picture-book illustrations—one that reveals an artistic identity attuned to the dialogue between color, form, and sound.