Woodcutters in the forest 1906

Carl Larsson made this watercolor of woodcutters in a forest, and right away I'm struck by the way he layers the scene with these delicate washes, almost like memories fading into each other. There’s a real sense of looking *through* the image, not just *at* it. The texture is amazing – you can almost feel the rough bark of the logs and the crispness of the snowy air. And look at how the light plays on the wood, creating these subtle shifts in color. It’s like he’s capturing the very essence of winter, the way the cold transforms everything it touches. The paint feels thin and deliberate, allowing the paper to breathe beneath, giving the scene a lightness despite its weighty subject matter. And that one woodcutter with his saw – the way he's bent over, all concentration and effort – it reminds me that art, like labor, is about putting in the work, trusting the process, and finding beauty in the everyday. It echoes Pieter Bruegel somehow, although Larsson certainly brings his own light touch to the subject. Ultimately, it's a scene filled with ambiguity, and I like that.