Chalet in the Mountains 1938

William H. Johnson made this painting, Chalet in the Mountains, with oil paint, and I can really feel that process here. I mean, look at that sky. It's like he's sculpting with the brush, pushing and pulling the paint into these gorgeous cloud shapes. It's all about the texture, the way the colors sit next to each other. The blues on the roofs are so thick and juicy, and they make this great contrast with the more muted browns and greens in the foreground. It feels like he’s building the scene up from the ground, layer by layer. Check out the way he's handled that winding path in the foreground – it’s like a river of thick, brown paint, dragging your eye right into the heart of the picture. Johnson reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, in the way he simplifies the world down to these big, bold shapes. But where Avery is all about quiet harmony, Johnson’s got this raw, almost folksy energy that’s all his own. It’s messy, it’s imperfect, and that’s what makes it so alive.