Herbstlandschaft 1903

This autumn landscape by Christian Rohlfs is a party of impasto and gesture! See how the strokes of yellows, oranges, reds, greens, and browns build the forms of the trees and the ground, almost like a mosaic made of juicy marks. Imagine Rohlfs outside, in the elements, trying to capture the feeling of the season—the air, the light, the turning colours. Each dab of paint is a response, a decision, an attempt to translate the visual experience into something tangible. The texture is so thick, you can almost feel the wind rustling through the branches. I think he and Van Gogh could have been good friends; they’re both searching for something true in their marks. I love how artists are in conversation with one another, picking up where others left off, pushing things further, or circling back to find something new in the old. It’s all one big, messy, beautiful conversation. And paintings like this remind us that seeing is never passive, but an active, ongoing construction.