THE PEACOCK 1986

Ernst Fuchs made this painting of a peacock in some undisclosed medium, at an unknown date. The layered application and rich palette gives you the sense that the artist found the making of the painting to be a deeply pleasurable experience, and hopefully you will too. Look closely at the ways the light seems to dapple through the trees, creating depth and shadow. The paint application is thick and textured, almost like frosting. You can see the movement of the artist’s hand in each stroke, a kind of dance between control and abandon. There's a tension between the peacock and the landscape it inhabits. Are the colors and the mark-making harmonizing, or at odds? Fuchs, with his interest in symbolism and myth, reminds me a little of Odilon Redon, whose dreamy visions also explored the boundaries of perception. Like Redon, Fuchs embraces ambiguity, inviting viewers to bring their own interpretations to the work, rejecting any single, fixed meaning.