Sunlight after Rain 1921

Robert Julian Onderdonk made "Sunlight after Rain" with visible brushstrokes of yellow, brown, and green. I can imagine the act of painting itself, with Onderdonk shifting and developing the landscape through error and intuition. Sympathizing with the artist, what might he have been thinking when he made it? The material aspects of painting – the texture, color, and surface – shape our experience of the scene. The paint here looks thin and washy, laid down as a memory of fleeting light. Look at how the light falls in horizontal marks suggesting sunlight on a wet forest floor. This particular gesture communicates feeling and invites you to imagine being there, in that quiet clearing. Artists are always in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time. Painting is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and allowing for multiple interpretations.