Digging at the vegetable garden 1920

Oleksa Novakivskyi made "Digging at the vegetable garden" with oil on canvas, and what strikes me first is the way he builds the forms with these really tangible marks. The colors feel earthy, like they've been pulled straight from the soil itself. You can almost feel the weight of the women's labor in the thickness of the paint, especially in the dark, tilled earth where each stroke seems to mimic the action of digging. Look closely at the woman on the left. Her bare feet seem so grounded in the dirt, each toe rendered with such care, as if Novakivskyi wanted us to feel her connection to the land. This piece reminds me a little of Courbet, in its honest portrayal of everyday life. Art’s not about answers, right? It’s about opening up a space for seeing and feeling.