Heuvelachtig landschap in herfstkleuren 1877 - 1944

Ker Xavier Roussel made this small pastel drawing of a hilly landscape in autumn. You can see how the powdery pastel sits on the page, a kind of dry, delicate medium that is so immediate, like sketching with pure pigment. It's interesting to consider pastel in relation to temporality, because of its fragility and vulnerability to being smudged. Look how the earth tones build up a sense of depth, with touches of brighter color suggesting the changing leaves. The texture is soft, almost dreamlike, which is heightened by the hazy atmosphere. There’s a lovely mark of bright blue in the sky that pulls the whole composition upwards, and the white scumbles above create a sense of ethereal light. This work reminds me of Odilon Redon’s pastels, who was a contemporary of Roussel. Both artists used color and texture to create a sense of otherworldly beauty, embracing ambiguity over fixed meanings.