Fólk í landslagi 1978

Louisa Matthiasdottir made this painting with oil on canvas, and it’s a wild and lovely thing. I can really feel her at work here. There's a juicy push-and-pull between the colours: cool blues and greens versus hot reds and yellows. The brushstrokes are thick and confident. Imagine her standing there, moving the paint around on the canvas, trying to figure out how to capture the feeling of the landscape. Look at that red house. It's not just a house. It is a block of pure, raw color and the little figures in the landscape in conversation. I'm thinking of other painters, like Milton Avery, who were also able to simplify the world into these big, beautiful shapes of color. Painting is like a conversation that artists have with each other across time. It’s about one painter inspiring another. We can bring our own feelings and experiences to the table, and see something new each time.