Landscape 1944

Arshile Gorky made this painting, Landscape, with oil on canvas, sometime in his career. The colours feel like faded memories, or a half-remembered dream, and it looks like he built it up in layers, with a thin wash of paint and delicate marks. I love the way he lets the process show, those lines feel like he's thinking out loud, making a start then changing his mind. There’s such a lightness of touch in the application of paint, almost like watercolour. See how the pigment bleeds and stains the canvas in places, while in others it sits on the surface, translucent. The way the paint drips, especially in the bottom right corner, gives it this unfinished quality which is something Gorky does so well, opening a window onto his process. The shapes are floating, like they could be anything. Gorky reminds me of Philip Guston, another artist who wasn't afraid to embrace mess and imperfection, letting the painting be a record of its making. It reminds us that art is always an experiment, a conversation, and a journey into the unknown.