SMALL CHURCH BRODEK U KONICE 1967

This is Jaroslav Keluc’s ‘Small Church Brodek U Konice’, and the paint is laid on with a real no-nonsense attitude. The strokes are confident and the colours are muted, wintery – it feels like he was trying to capture something essential about this place. Look at how the paint is built up, particularly in the snow drifts and the walls of the buildings. There's a real thickness there, a kind of stubborn materiality. You can almost feel the chill in the air, the dampness of the snow. See how he suggests the textures of the wood and stone with just a few quick strokes, it's like he's not trying to fool you into thinking it’s real, but rather giving you the feeling of it. This reminds me of some of the early 20th-century painters who were trying to get back to basics, like a simplified, honest way of seeing and painting. It’s a humble painting, but it’s got a kind of quiet strength. There's no definitive meaning, just a feeling, an impression, a moment captured in time.