Mountain Landscape with Cows 1937

Sasza Blonder painted this Mountain Landscape with Cows with oils, but it is hard to tell when. It's all about the strokes, the feel of the paint being laid down. You can almost feel the energy of the painter in the way the colors blend and collide. Look at how the paint is thick in some areas, almost like frosting, and thin in others, creating a real sense of depth. Notice the way Blonder uses these short, choppy brushstrokes to build up the mountains in the background. There is a real sense of place, even though it's abstracted. That dash of red, high up in the center of the painting, pulls the eye. It is so small, but so mighty. Blonder's work reminds me of some of the early expressionist landscape painters. They were all trying to capture not just what they saw, but what they felt. I feel like art is always a conversation with the past. Blonder is no exception. We're all just adding our own little brushstrokes to the story.