Gulls 1941

Albert Bloch conjured this earthy landscape filled with gulls using oil paint, though we don't know exactly when. It looks like he layered muted tones of brown, gray, and white to create a scene that feels both familiar and dreamlike. I can imagine him working on this, maybe outside on a blustery day, squinting at the scene before him. See how the paint is applied in these thick, swirling strokes? It’s as if he's trying to capture not just what he sees, but also the feeling of the wind and the restless energy of the birds. I am drawn to the way Bloch renders the sky, a wash of stormy gray that seems to press down on the scene. The gulls cut through it like little white knives. It’s interesting to think about how artists like Bloch were looking at the world and trying to make sense of it through paint, just as painters continue to do today. Painting is a conversation, a way of seeing and feeling that gets passed down, transformed, and reimagined.