Le Verdos 1981

Włodzimierz Zakrzewski made this oil painting, Le Verdos, with expressive brushstrokes and a muted palette of greens, grays, and reds. I imagine Zakrzewski standing before the landscape, squinting, trying to capture the light as it filters through the trees. See how the brushstrokes build up the scene, layer upon layer? It's like he's wrestling with the paint, coaxing it to become something more than just pigment. The painting is thick in some places and thin in others. It's a dance between control and accident, intention and intuition. The dark branches in the foreground reach out, framing the scene and drawing us in. It’s like the artist is inviting us to get lost in the details, to feel the weight of the paint, and to experience the landscape anew. He reminds me of other painters who also loved to get their hands dirty, like Courbet or even Cezanne. Artists are always in conversation with one another, riffing on each other’s ideas and pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.