VINSKÖRD 1924

Otto Gustav Carlsund made 'Vinskörd' with oil on canvas; a painting all angles, edges, and machine parts. I can almost see him in his studio, stepping back, squinting, and tilting his head. It's a painting about labor, right? The labor of picking grapes, maybe, but also the labor of building a picture. It's work! I imagine his frustration, staring at that canvas, trying to bring all these different elements together. He’s trying to make something whole, but how? The woman and the grapes are the subject, but the mechanical forms in the background are just as important. They create a tension. It looks like Léger, or Purist painting. The modern world was like this for them: part human, part machine, all existing on the same plane. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another. This piece, like the practice of painting itself, embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations and meanings.