Pine Tree and Red House, Winter City 1924

Lawren Harris conjured ‘Pine Tree and Red House, Winter City’ with oil on board, and looking at it I can imagine how it came into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Harris. I know what it’s like to make a painting. What was he thinking when he made it? The paint is thickly applied, the color is rich, and the surface is alive with texture. I love the gesture where the snow droops off the roof, a slow, deliberate curve, communicating both weight and softness. The red of the house glows against the white of the snow. This piece speaks to Harris's wider exploration of form and spirituality. It's as if he’s in conversation with painters like Mondrian, who were also searching for a deeper truth through abstraction. Artists are always inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations, offering more than fixed readings.