Summer 1967

Hryhorii Havrylenko’s painting “Summer” probably came into being with oil paint, but also the shifting of light, and the memory of it. I imagine that the painting emerged through touch, intuition, and maybe a little bit of struggle. Look how Havrylenko used horizontal marks to build up this landscape. I see the broad strokes suggesting the ground, a hill maybe, and then the sky above. It is kind of quiet, and I wonder what it was like to be in his shoes, standing in front of the canvas, making decisions about where to put each stroke. I imagine he had to decide to trust the painting. In some ways, painting is like a conversation that you have with yourself, but also with all the other painters who have ever lived. We’re all constantly responding to each other’s ideas. And what’s cool about painting is that there is no right answer. You just keep trying to find new ways of seeing and feeling.