Bushes 1919

Alfred William Finch painted "Bushes" with oil, sometime around 1912, and you can really feel the lushness of the process in the final image. There's a real push-and-pull happening. See how the dabs of yellow paint create a kind of glowing carpet that the bushes and the dark greens seem to grow out of? It's not so much a picture of bushes, but an evocation of what it feels like to be in a space that is dense with life. The marks are really visible here. Up close you can see each stroke has its own texture and direction. It makes me think of Bonnard, the way he used color to create atmosphere. But Finch has a rawness and directness, maybe something that reminds me of a Vuillard piece in its intimacy. Ultimately the painting is about how art can turn perception into something alive and breathing.