Twilight 1974

Vudon Baklytsky made 'Twilight' using what looks like a trowel or palette knife. There's this push and pull between representation and abstraction happening on the canvas, and it’s so palpable. The thick paint application is anything but smooth, you can almost feel the weight of each loaded stroke! The colours aren’t blended as much as they're layered, like you can see the individual decisions. There's a band of orange blossoms in the middle ground, standing out against a sea of cool greens and blues, it feels like he's really digging into the materiality of paint. This reminds me of Guston, the way he built these landscapes with such direct, almost brutal gestures. It's like Baklytsky and Guston both reveled in the physicality of paint. It feels like they both saw the act of painting as this messy, beautiful, and totally unpredictable process.