Landscape 1911

Konstantinos Parthenis painted this small landscape at an unknown date with oil on canvas. The violet mountain range and sky are built from visible brushstrokes that have a dry, chalky quality. I can almost feel the artist’s hand moving back and forth, coaxing form from a collection of cool tones. I wonder if Parthenis felt alone, or at peace, when he stood before this view. There’s a simplicity to the composition, a lack of sharp detail, that suggests a dreamlike state, a place filtered through memory. And that little building, with its warm oranges and yellows, is so inviting. It’s the kind of place you’d want to walk to, throw open the windows, and begin your own painting. I love the way painters seem to talk to each other through their work, across time, inspiring each other. Painting is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas. Each work embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations, like an open question.