Trouble at Sea 1953

Edwin Georgi made this image, Trouble at Sea, and the drama is all in the drawing and the colour. The pink sky is not realistic but is the most descriptive part! It comes off like a memory of looking at a sunset in the distance – a kind of fever dream. The black and white tones anchor the sentiment of the image. It makes me think about the materiality of the medium, and how the paint is worked, almost like it has emerged through trial, error, and intuition. I feel like Georgi has gone back and forth, adding layers, scraping them away, and then adding some more. What were they thinking when they made this? What was the intention behind this colour palette? The thin paint layers allow us to see the grain of the paper or canvas underneath, which gives the work a sense of depth and texture.