A White Road at Late Afternoon 1921

Robert Julian Onderdonk painted “A White Road at Late Afternoon” with what looks like a whole lotta intuition and a dash of observation. The greens are almost fighting with those whites in the road, like they're all pushing to be seen, to come forward. I can imagine Onderdonk out there, squinting at the light, trying to nail down that Texas landscape, probably muttering to himself about color and form. He's not trying to trick you with details but rather trying to give you the feeling of the place. Check out how the brushstrokes are thick and juicy, you can almost feel the Texan heat shimmering off that road. That one little tree in the foreground, all spindly and reaching, is totally awkward but full of life. It's like Onderdonk is saying, "Yeah, nature's messy, but isn't it great?" It’s not unlike Van Gogh's landscapes. Maybe they would have painted together, had they met? All artists are in a conversation across time.