Lake or seascape 1910 - 1912

Here is the audio guide script about "Lake or seascape" by Eero Järnefelt. In this watercolour, Järnefelt washes the paper with diluted hues. It's all soft edges and misty surfaces. I can imagine Järnefelt outside, maybe near the end of the day, hurrying to capture the scene as the light shifts and fades. Look at how the bands of color stack up to create the landscape. Land, then water, then a distant shore, all under a huge sky. It's like the horizon is both solid and dissolving, all at the same time. The beach looks solid enough. The water, though, seems more like a reflection of the sky. I wonder if he was thinking about what is real versus what is mirrored. It puts me in mind of other artists, like Gerhard Richter, who also use landscape to explore ideas about perception. Here, Järnefelt finds something new in a traditional subject, and makes us question how we see the world around us. It's this exchange of ideas that keeps painting alive and kicking!