Ein Karem 1944

Mordecai Ardon made this dreamy landscape of Ein Karem with oil paint, sometime in the mid-20th century, though who can really say? It's like a whispered memory of a place, isn't it? I love the way Ardon builds up the surface with these stabs and dabs of paint. Look at how the colors shift and shimmer – ochres, greens, a touch of red. There is such a tactile feel to the paint; you can almost feel the brushstrokes. Zoom in on that cluster of trees near the bottom. See how the tangled branches are built up with short, choppy strokes? It's like he's not just depicting the trees, but also the sensation of being among them, of feeling the energy of nature. It makes me think about what Monet was doing at Giverny, playing with light and form, and letting the paint do the talking. Ultimately, this painting is more about feeling than seeing.