Arsanas at Mount Athos 1924

Spyros Papaloukas made this painting of Arsanas at Mount Athos, probably in oil, with a kind of determined, architectural approach. Everything feels built, plank by plank, brushstroke by brushstroke. I love the cool restraint of the palette, and the way he’s balanced the flatness of the design with a clear sense of depth. The way the blue shadows are laid down, so solid, is a marvel. It’s a reminder that painting is always a process of building something, even if it’s an illusion. Look at how the artist has taken white and gray as key colours, using these with such force that they manage to dominate. The little touches of raw orange in the gate and doorways; it’s the equivalent of a tiny jewel, a real exclamation point! Papaloukas reminds me of Cezanne, in the way he slowly and methodically observed nature to build form. Both artists show us that there are no shortcuts, only layers.