The Red Turret 1920

Ernest Lawson made The Red Turret, an oil on canvas, location and date unknown. Look at how Lawson builds this scene with what seems like a million little dabs of paint, a mosaic of textures and hues. The way the paint is applied so thickly, impasto style, makes you want to reach out and touch it. It's almost sculptural. See how the branches in the foreground are both there and not there? Like he was building form, deconstructing it, then building it up again. It’s a dance between representation and abstraction. Take a look at that little red turret; it anchors the whole composition. Maybe that’s the point of the painting – to make something pop from the landscape. Lawson reminds me of someone like Joan Mitchell, the way she also used colour and texture to evoke emotion and a sense of place, or maybe even Cezanne. Both of them prove that painting isn't about answers; it's about exploring possibilities.