Forest Picture 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made this painting, Forest Picture, with oil on canvas. Just look at those marks! They’re so free, so alive. You can almost feel Stevns pushing the paint around, trying to capture the light filtering through the trees. I imagine him out there, squinting, brush dancing across the canvas, mixing those greens, blues, and purples with such energy. I love how the paint is laid on thick in some spots and thinned out in others, creating this fantastic texture. It's like you can feel the dampness of the forest floor and the crispness of the air. And that patch of sunlight hitting the clearing? It’s like a little burst of joy. It reminds me a bit of some of the Impressionists, trying to catch a fleeting moment, but with a Scandinavian twist. Artists are always looking at each other, right? Picking up on ideas, pushing them further. Paintings like this are all about feeling, about being in a place, not just seeing it. It’s about the artist’s hand, their eye, and their heart all working together. And we get to be a part of that, too.