American Landscape: Mountain with Archaic Forms 1983

Ralph Rosenborg made this painting, *American Landscape: Mountain with Archaic Forms*, with bold brushstrokes and a sunny palette. I imagine him standing at his easel, smearing and layering the paint, letting the colors mix and mingle. There’s a real energy in the way Rosenborg builds up the surface. The paint is thick, almost sculptural, each dab and stroke loaded with intention. The yellow, in particular, feels like a foundation, something from which the other colors emerge. I like how the touches of green and blue pull against the warmth of the yellow and orange, creating a vibrant tension. That band of green, snaking across the middle – what was he thinking when he laid that down? It’s like a jolt of life, a reminder that even in the most abstract forms, there's always a connection to the natural world. Painters are always talking to each other, across time. I see echoes of Milton Avery in Rosenborg's color choices, a shared interest in simplifying and abstracting the landscape. It's this ongoing conversation that keeps painting alive, full of possibility and surprise.