青绿绿水的见证 2015

This painting by 王新福 is pure, unadulterated impasto – like the artist attacked the canvas with frosting! I imagine the artist standing there, maybe squinting at the scene reflected in the water, and then just going for it. Layer upon layer of luscious blues, greens, and creams, laid on with a palette knife, building up this almost sculptural surface. It’s so physical, so immediate, that you can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the canvas. There’s a real sense of energy and movement, like the scene is alive and breathing. The reflection shimmers, and the mountains are full of depth. Painters have always been inspired by each other, riffing on ideas and pushing boundaries. This feels like a really contemporary take on landscape painting, but equally in conversation with artists like Van Gogh and Auerbach, who both loved to build up the surface of their paintings. It's a reminder that painting is all about the process – the act of applying paint, making marks, and seeing what happens.