Mount Lefroy 1930

Lawren Harris made this painting of Mount Lefroy with oil paint on what looks like a smooth canvas or board. The way Harris simplifies the mountain into these clean, almost architectural forms is super interesting. The colors are muted, icy blues and whites, with these sharp shadows that give everything a solid, geometric feel. Look at how he carves out each plane of snow with these deliberate strokes, it's like he's building a monument rather than just painting a landscape. I’m really drawn to the contrast between the smooth, almost machine-like precision of the lines and the wild, untamed nature of the mountain itself. The way he uses light, especially on the peak, suggests something spiritual. It reminds me a bit of some of the early modernist landscape painters, like Cezanne, who were also trying to capture the underlying structure of the world. Art is always about how we see, and Harris really makes you see mountains differently.