Pumpkin Sky

Hulda D. Robbins made this print, Pumpkin Sky, on paper. The shapes here are so simplified, almost cartoonish, but not quite. It is all about the color relationships; these muted tones somehow vibrate against each other, but it’s subtle, not too loud. Robbins is really thinking about the push and pull of making a picture, how forms create space, and how colors evoke different feelings. Look at that tree, such a simple form, and yet it grounds the whole picture, acting almost like a plumb line. Now, if you notice the orange area, like a stage set, that the tree occupies, it almost feels as if the picture is made up of layered paper cut-outs. This makes me think of Matisse's late work, when he was making cut-outs. But Robbins has her own thing, she’s less interested in pure abstraction than in trying to capture the essence of a place, a time, a feeling. You can almost smell the crisp autumn air looking at it! It is so satisfying and, somehow, so complete.