South America

Creative rationale

This location is over the Southern Ocean, southwest of the tip of South America near the Drake Passage, one of Earth's most turbulent maritime regions. The moderate wind speed of 10.8 m/s from the west creates aggressive diagonal slashes cutting across the composition, while the anomalously warm temperature of -3.5°C (20.6°C above normal for this frigid zone) brings flashes of heated flesh tones and cadmium yellows erupting through the cold Antarctic palette. The low pressure of 978.9 hPa with its steep gradient creates violent compression, forcing gestural marks to press aggressively against the picture plane in classic de Kooning fashion.