The City Park 1912

Curator: Let's take a closer look at János Kmetty's "The City Park," painted in 1912. What strikes you most when you first see it? Editor: Honestly? It feels like a fever dream. The trees are both there and not there, like a half-remembered summer afternoon shimmering in the heat. The colors pulse with this strange energy. Curator: It's interesting you say that. The application of oil paint here speaks volumes. Note the impasto technique; the thick daubs suggest a conscious act of material transformation. The 'plein-air' methodology suggests it was produced directly from the environment. Editor: The paint is applied with such deliberation; I am really drawn to how each brushstroke is its own small adventure. They add depth and that shimmer I mentioned. What was Kmetty trying to communicate? Curator: I see Kmetty engaging with emerging ideas around abstraction. Traditional landscape is almost exploded. Instead, there is a concentration on color relationships and geometric forms dominating our eye. Also, 'city park' as subject brings forth questions about the access to public, natural spaces within urbanizing settings. Editor: The choice of such vibrant hues in a somewhat urban scene surprises me. A real punch of boldness against the backdrop of industrial expansion. I like to imagine the artist relishing the chance to capture that wildness and escape, even fleetingly. Curator: Yes, and thinking of its reception, Kmetty invites the viewer into that sensory experience, but also perhaps subtly comments on the changing landscape surrounding urbanization during that time. These colors push back at the industrial drudgery in its way. Editor: And perhaps encourages us to pause, notice the vibrancy, and cherish the park’s existence within the city. Well, I appreciate this wild dream captured in paint, it awakens some sense of the importance of wild spaces in the middle of even urban reality. Curator: Indeed. A compelling juxtaposition between form, technique and the social commentary Kmetty seemed to provide.