Turquoise Prairie 1979

Ronnie Landfield made 'Turquoise Prairie,' by building up veils of acrylic paint. It’s like he's chasing after a feeling, something maybe in between Rothko’s stacked color planes and a quick study of a sunset. Look at the way the colors bleed and blend! The surface is smooth, almost like a watercolor, but with the intensity of acrylics. It feels immediate, yet deliberate. The horizon line isn't sharp; instead, it’s fuzzy, kind of like a memory fading at the edges. I can see these tiny drips and subtle variations in the paint. It’s not about perfection but about the process. This piece reminds me of other colour field artists like Helen Frankenthaler. With Frankenthaler there's a similar sense of letting the paint do its thing. What I love about Landfield's work is its ambiguity; it’s not quite abstract, not quite representational. It’s a feeling, a mood, an open question.