Follow the Stream (left wing) 1910

Jacek Malczewski made "Follow the Stream" as a wing piece with oil on canvas, and it feels like a scene remembered. The earth tones throughout give it an overall hazy feel, a bit like memory itself. You can almost feel the way Malczewski layered the paint, thin and transparent in some areas, thicker in others, building up the image bit by bit. Look at how the trees in the midground are painted, the way they blend into the landscape. There’s one tree on the right with long, almost skeletal branches reaching up. It feels like a reminder of time passing, of the cycle of life and death that’s always present in nature. It’s hard to pin down one specific meaning here, and maybe that’s the point. Like a lot of Symbolist art, it’s more about creating a mood, evoking a feeling, than telling a straightforward story. Think of someone like Odilon Redon. Art doesn’t have to be one thing; it can be a conversation.