Paesaggio Nordico 1972

Gustavo Foppiani made this painting called Paesaggio Nordico with paint, probably in his studio. I wonder what Foppiani was thinking when he laid down that ochre ground, like a scorched earth or twilight sky, setting the stage for these mysterious, almost glyph-like shapes in cream and black. He has built this up with layers, hasn't he? Scumbling and scratching into the surface so that the painting becomes a kind of record, or maybe even an archaeological site. I’m really drawn to the teardrop shapes with the black stems. They're like strange, floating seeds, and that looping line there could be something growing, reaching. Did he see himself as a kind of cosmic gardener, planting visual forms and then watching what might grow? That jagged black shape in the corner reminds me a bit of Guston, but the overall palette and the mark-making feel very particular to Foppiani. It makes you wonder about the conversations happening between artists, across time and space. It’s exciting, don't you think?