Peat digging 1902

Paula Modersohn-Becker made this oil on canvas, “Peat Digging,” at the start of the 20th century, and she was interested in artmaking as a process. The materiality of the paint is everything here; the colors, though representational, are secondary to the feeling of the medium itself, thick and juicy. Look at how the strokes of blues and greens and whites are all laid down, one next to the other, like a mosaic. The painting is made up of discrete gestures of color. It's a kind of landscape built from the physicality of paint. The dark area, like a riverbank in the foreground, uses very dark tones; it looks almost like pure pigment, and it's laid on so thick. Her commitment to an individual, handmade stroke is so strong; this reminds me a little of Van Gogh. They both share a determination to see the world afresh, with an eye on the building blocks of perception and a focus on the painting process. I think she is someone who embraces ambiguity and leaves a lot of room for different readings of her work.