Bridget Riley, Study for 'Blaze'

This drawing includes several indications of Riley's decision-making process. Her inscription at upper right states that 'all angles [must be] as acute as possible', which contrasts with another study for Blaze (1962, Private Collection), where Riley instead considered radiating lines of varying distributions. The collaged piece of paper indicates another change, covering up a previous attempt at the central passage. In the series of 'Blaze' paintings which grew out of this study, the centre is eventually manifested as a void.