Post Surreal Configuration: Eternal Recurrence 1940

Lorser Feitelson’s ‘Post Surreal Configuration: Eternal Recurrence’ is a painting made with oil, that looks like a dreamscape of monumental forms. The palette is muted and earthy, all browns, creams, and greys, which somehow only adds to the sense of being in a surreal landscape. I can imagine the artist building up the forms with great care, layering the paint to create smooth transitions and soft edges. What was he thinking, I wonder, as he labored over the canvas? The scale feels epic and imposing, inviting you into another realm of consciousness. Look at the muscular leg, how Feitelson has modulated the tone to describe the form in a way that has a strange kind of classical reference. He has these monumental figures looming in the foreground, as if the picture plane is just not quite big enough to contain them. It's as though he’s in conversation with other painters across time. The title suggests the cyclical nature of existence, maybe a nod to the never-ending dialogues that artists engage in, responding to one another's visions. Like eternal recurrence, painting is a form of expression that keeps coming back.