The Mountains at Vevey, Switzerland 1926

Curator: It’s a world turned to ochre and umber! Stark and monumental. Editor: Indeed! What we’re looking at is Constant Permeke’s "The Mountains at Vevey, Switzerland" created around 1926, an oil painting rendered, one might say, en plein air. It feels... elemental. Curator: Elemental is spot on. It's almost geologic. You feel the weight of the mountains pressing down. Look at how he's flattened everything, those simplified shapes, especially in the buildings. It's not about the detail but a kind of brutal essence. Makes me think about the sheer physical effort to exist. Do you think that was intentional? Editor: I find it unavoidable in Permeke's work. Here, the earth tones seem to almost bleed into each other, punctuated by a somewhat strident blue along the bottom edge, that I take to represent the lake and in the patch of sky. The composition pushes everything forward, filling the frame without creating depth. Observe the mountains: instead of receding, they remain confrontational. Curator: He's stripped away any romanticism you might expect from a Swiss landscape. More anxiety and weight than serenity here. Did he lay the paint on thick, or am I imagining things? Editor: The impasto isn't aggressive, but it is present, lending texture. Notice the almost crude, direct application, visible strokes emphasizing the materiality of the paint. I wonder about the buildings huddled at the foot of the mountains… Their cubic forms feel precarious, dwarfed by the geological immensity. It brings up notions of humanity’s tenuous hold. Curator: Yes! A reminder of our own smallness. All the Fauvist colors and Expressionist angst creates that really unnerving but very intriguing effect! This definitely evokes the feeling of awe that only a few rare landscapes and images are capable of achieving! I really can't help wonder what compelled him when he painted it. What a visceral vision of Switzerland, and to create a fauvist piece en plein air… Incredible. Editor: Absolutely. It allows one to think critically about expression, form, materiality and place, offering us insight to consider regarding ourselves and what surrounds us!