A big old pine tree of Kotavuori 1916

Pekka Halonen made this painting of a pine tree, probably en plein air, with oil on canvas. Look how Halonen uses the brushstrokes to build up the texture, especially in the bark. You can almost feel the rough surface. The color palette is so earthy, warm browns and reds, with little dashes of green, like the memory of spring. It’s as if the tree is a body, all veins and sinew, reaching out. I love the way the branches twist and turn, like dancers frozen in time. This painting reminds me of Van Gogh. Both artists were fascinated by the way light interacts with nature, and both had the capacity to bring such a personal, visceral energy to their canvases. Halonen captures the stillness and resilience of nature, which speaks volumes about how art can show us new ways of seeing.