Night landscape with the Gas Plant Schlieren 1951

This is Max Gubler’s ‘Night Landscape with the Gas Plant Schlieren’, and I’m just imagining him there with his brushes in hand. There’s something about the deep blues and reds that feels both serene and a bit unsettling. The sky is built up of these broad strokes of blues and whites, sort of fighting each other, which gives you a sense of movement, like the night itself is restless. Then you’ve got that red sun, or maybe it’s a moon, sitting right at the top – it's a powerful presence. I’m wondering if he was thinking of the Fauves, with that bold color choice! And down below, the gas plant. These are solid, dark silhouettes, anchoring the painting and creating a sense of place. It all comes together to create an image that’s more about feeling than seeing, you know? Painting’s like that; it’s about what happens when the paint hits the canvas, when your eye meets the color, and a dialogue starts.