The Edge of the Maple Wood 1910

A.Y. Jackson made The Edge of the Maple Wood with oil on canvas, and it feels like he built this scene up, color by color. It's like he's thinking through paint. The surface has this great, crusty texture, kind of rough. You can see each stroke, each decision, like individual thoughts piling up. I love how the shadows of the trees stretch across the ground, these long, dark fingers reaching out. It’s like the trees are trying to hold onto the light, or maybe they're just claiming their space. There's a rawness to it, an honesty. You can feel the cold air, the stillness of the woods. This reminds me of Courbet, maybe, in the way he wasn't afraid to show the grit and the weight of the world. Both artists weren't trying to pretty things up; they were showing you what’s really there. Painting, when it's good, is always about that tension between what you see and what you feel.