Untitled c. 1973

George Bunker’s 'Untitled' looks like it came together playfully, with pastel crayons on paper. I can just imagine Bunker outside somewhere, scribbling away, trying to catch the light just so. Look at the way he layers those greens and blues – it's like he’s building up the atmosphere, one stroke at a time. The whole thing feels immediate, like a fleeting impression snagged right out of the air. I wonder if he was thinking about the landscape tradition, but wanted to do his own thing? The light and fleeting strokes make me think of Impressionist landscape painters like Monet. Ultimately, I think artists like Bunker show us that painting is a way of thinking, feeling, and living in the world – one spontaneous mark at a time.