China’s Mystery Girl and the 11 Air Force Hostages 1960

This image, China’s Mystery Girl and the 11 Air Force Hostages, was made by Mort Künstler, though I couldn’t tell you when. It's awash in a fiery orange light, with dramatic figures on boats. I can imagine Künstler mixing the oil paints, trying to get just the right shade for that intense sky. What was he thinking as he brushed the paint across the canvas, layer upon layer, to create that almost apocalyptic sunset? The paint looks pretty smooth, not too thick, giving it a kind of illustrative feel. I'm curious about his choice to bathe everything in this uniform orange hue. It's not quite realism, right? There's a figure with a bow and arrow, and you can almost feel the tension as he pulls back the string, which to me speaks of a certain historical storytelling tradition in painting, but with its own unique spin. Artists are always responding to each other, across time, riffing on old themes and making them new. Ultimately, it's all about how we see, feel, and express our experiences, right?