Manden der ser alt 1919

Vilhelm Lundstrom made this oil painting, "The Man Who Sees Everything," with such tender, muddy colors! I can almost feel the give and take of the artist’s hand as he laid down those strokes, building up the forms, wiping away, and then adding more. I imagine Lundstrom standing before the canvas, squinting, stepping back, then diving in again. What was he thinking as he built up this scene? It's a curious one. There is a figure of a man at the edge of a shore looking through some binoculars, perhaps? And then the figures emerging from the water. The brushwork is so physical, almost like he's sculpting with the paint. I wonder if he’s in dialogue with other painters, like maybe the early modernists, playing with form and space, not quite abstract but not fully representational either. I suppose that's what painting is all about anyway, it is a conversation that never ends. Each artist adding their voice, seeing and feeling in their own way. It's all such a beautiful mystery.