Promenade in Winter 1981

Editor: Maria Bozoky's "Promenade in Winter," created in 1981, gives off a cold, serene atmosphere. The lines are sparse and quick, almost like a memory fading into the snow. How do you interpret the visual structure of this piece? Curator: Note the deliberate construction of space achieved through line and color. See how the swift strokes delineate the forms of the trees and the chairs in the foreground? And how the interplay of the cool blues of the water and greys of the land advance and recede from our point of view? These create a visual rhythm. How does that strike you? Editor: It makes the scene feel both present and distant. It feels very much like I'm looking through a window rather than being there. Curator: Precisely! This sense of distance can be interpreted through formal terms of its abstract expressionist elements. It evokes emotion not through detailed realism but through its intrinsic visual properties and surface texture. Notice the emphasis on form and color relationships? Editor: I do. The lack of distinct detail adds to the dream-like quality. Were they working to distort or accurately portray nature in the artwork? Curator: What constitutes accurate? Is there perhaps an evocation of reality achieved by the way that colour serves both a representational and abstract purpose here? One could assert that it is the emphasis on painterly gesture over meticulous rendering, so the formal aspect supersedes the desire for exactitude, in my estimation. Editor: That makes perfect sense. Thank you. I see so many layers and new qualities through your reading of it. Curator: The pleasure has been mine. It highlights the capacity of form and material to evoke emotion through colour and line alone, and their unique interaction, I think.