嘉陵江边的石墩子 2020

This painting called 嘉陵江边的石墩子 by 王新福 looks like it was made with thick daubs of paint, probably oil or maybe acrylic, in a flurry of browns, yellows, and blues. I can just imagine the artist standing there, maybe by the river itself, trying to capture the scene, wrestling with the paint, adding layer upon layer. Look at how the strokes build up, almost like little sculptures, creating a sense of texture and depth. I bet Wang Xinfu was really feeling the physicality of the place, the grit and the light, trying to translate it all onto the canvas. There’s this one part, a sweep of yellow, that feels like a sudden burst of sunlight. It reminds me a bit of Van Gogh, that urgency and energy, that need to express something profound through the act of painting. It makes you wonder about the conversation all these artists are having across time, each one inspiring the next to see and feel in new ways.