Landscape 1919

Emil Carlsen made this "Landscape" painting with oil on canvas, and you can really see that process in the finished piece. The brushstrokes are so visible, like he's letting us in on the secret of how the image was built up, layer by layer. The colour palette is very restrained, all muted greens and browns, but within that limited range, there's so much subtle variation. What’s especially cool is the way the paint's applied—thinly in some areas, thickly in others, creating this almost shimmering effect. It's like the light is moving across the surface of the painting. The trees have been drawn with such an intense verticality, yet they sit upon the orange and brown of the earth, which balances the high reaching movement of the trees. It kind of reminds me of those early Impressionist landscapes. Like Carlsen is trying to capture a fleeting moment in time, a particular quality of light. But, he gives it his own spin. He’s not afraid to leave things unresolved, to let the paint do its thing. For me, this openness is what makes the painting so engaging.