The Phantom

Many abstract artists will not necessarily be able to tell you what they were trying to capture in a painting, but they most definitely will be able to tell you whether they captured it. Baziotes called it “chasing the phantom” - you paint until the phantom hidden in the canvas reveals itself. You do not always know what the phantom looks like, in fact, often one rarely has the "right eyes" to see the phantom for quite some time. But an abstract artist will know when they have captured the feeling - captured the phantom.