Azalee 1910

Christian Rohlfs made this painting, Azalee, with confident strokes of paint in shades of red and green, bursting forth like a fanfare on a beige ground. I can almost feel the artist at work, building up the image, dab after dab, perhaps stepping back and squinting to assess the overall effect, and then going in again to add more pigment. It is a flurry of activity on the canvas. I wonder, did he layer thin washes, allowing the colors to mingle and create depth? Or did he apply thick daubs directly, relishing in the tactile nature of the paint? I bet he worked with intensity and speed to capture the sensation of the flowers. The marks convey feeling and energy with such conviction. Painting is so generous as a medium, and artists, in a constant dialogue across history, build upon what has come before and inspire what will follow. And here we are, the viewers, who complete the whole process!