Red can illustrate rhythm. Rhythm is the sound of a heartbeat or a catchy tune. Visual rhythm is a sequence of shapes patterned to direct the eye around an artwork. Jean-Paul Riopelle creates rhythm in the spiral movement of The Wheel II. Its shades and shapes come from spontaneous movement and paint application, characteristic of the Automatistes. The eye travels over the surface rather than resting on a central subject. Rhythm can be found in representation or abstraction, from Nevinson's depictions of charging soldiers to Janet Kigusiuq's Caribou Meat Covered with Flies.

Jean-Paul Riopelle
The Wheel II, 1956
© Estate of Jean Paul Riopelle / SODRAC (Montreal) 2000

A sweeping spiral takes form out of a concentration of shard-like shapes. Variations of thick and thin, red-orange and red-blue push out from a central vortex. These reds, dense and concentrated, then dissipated, suggest the shape of the wheel. With his technique of building up planes of paint side by side, Riopelle creates a repetition of motion and rhythm, capturing the cycle of the wheel's rotation. Medieval stained-glass windows inspire the spectrum of colours on the surface.
Jean-Paul Riopelle was a member of the Automatistes, a group of Quebec artists who stressed the supremacy of the accident in the creative process. This work records the artist's energetic gesture of improvisation with the palette knife full of paint.

Simon Tookoome
I Am Always Thinking About the Animals, 1973

Tookoome imprints memories of relationships with humans and animals, signalling that each is as important as any other. This is an autobiographical image - one of many - where the artist shows the influence of legends and myths on his life.
In Tookoome's print, the solid red background emphasizes the features of the figures. The striped necks of the animals and humans radiate from the centre encouraging our eye to flow in a rhythmic circular pattern.

C. R. W. Nevinson
Returning to the Trenches, 1914

A mass of uniformed men, heads bowed and resigned to the task, march forward. Raised and tilted guns punctuate the rhythmic mass. Repeated application of bright red creates a formal line across the canvas. Red unifies and delineates the subjects of the painting.
Nevinson, a British artist, was influenced by Italian Futurism, an early twentieth-century art movement that championed the machines of the technological age and celebrated the aesthetics of war. This painting shows elements of Futurism, focusing on its depiction of fragmented figures the image of the marching soldier repeated in a jagged movement. Nevinson adapted the style of Futurism to convey the horrors of war by aligning the advent of industrialization with the grim reality of battle. The red motif in the painting suggests a collective march to injury or death. Returning to the Trenches challenges heroic notions of war.

Janet Kigusiuq
Caribou Meat Covered with Flies, 1990

In art from Baker Lake, drawn, printed or appliquéd Inuit images are usually placed on a solid ground. Artwork depicting the hunt typically shows heroic figures in action.
In this drawing, a dismembered caribou lies alone on the tundra, covered with flies. It is surrounded by shades of pink, orange, and red, suggesting a pool of blood and the vitality of the animal. Using pencil crayon, the artist fills in areas with repeated lines to represent the tundra and draws hundreds of flies on the carcass in smudgy lead pencil. We can see the pattern of swarming flies and imagine the rhythm of their buzzing. Traditionally, a hunted animal would immediately be prepared to be eaten or stored. One is left to wonder why the caribou carcass has been abandoned.

Marc Chagall
The Eiffel Tower, 1934
© Estate of Marc Chagall / ADAGP (Paris) / SODRAC (Montreal) 2000

A majestic Eiffel Tower is set against the glowing heat of a red sun in a vibrant pink sky. Floating on the lush landscape, cooled by the shade of the green leaves of a tree, a woman peacefully sleeps. A rooster serenades her with the music of his violin.
Chagall was known for his use of magic realism, or the playful projection of themes of dream and fantasy onto the canvas. With a sense of relief in returning to Paris after a long absence, the artist celebrates his love of the city, his love for his wife, and tender moments in the relationship between men and women. He combined symbolic colours and animal and human subjects in idyllic settings that reflect the influence of his unconscious. In this painting the rooster embodies male energy, and the reds of the sunset or sunrise represent the forces of the sun.