Industrial Building 1936

Franklin Carmichael painted this image of an industrial building with oil on canvas, although we don't know exactly when. I love the way he’s built up these thick, juicy strokes of paint to describe the scene, like he's wrestling with the world and trying to pin it down on the canvas. The texture is just so present. You can practically feel the rough, weathered surfaces of the building and the softness of the surrounding landscape. He's not trying to hide the paint or smooth it out; he's letting it do its thing, creating this tangible, almost sculptural quality. Look at the blues and greens. See how they create this sense of space and atmosphere, almost like a dream. And that one bold stroke of dark paint that makes up the building’s structure? It’s like a shorthand, a quick way of capturing the essence of the thing. It reminds me a little of Milton Avery, another painter who knew how to say a lot with just a few simple shapes and colors. It's like they're both in on a secret about how to see and feel the world.