Unter den Linden 1922

Lesser Ury captured Unter den Linden with oils, a dance of light and shadow across the wet pavement. I can almost feel the rain coming down, blurring the edges of everything. Imagine Ury standing there, brush in hand, trying to capture the fleeting moment. What was he thinking? Was he trying to freeze a memory, or was he just drawn to the way the light reflected off the slick street? The paint is applied in these loose, gestural strokes, not fussy at all. There’s a real sense of immediacy, as if he were racing against the changing light. I see a certain kinship with the French Impressionists, but Ury brings his own sensibility, a kind of melancholy. Painters are always talking to each other across time, you know, inspiring each other’s takes on reality. Ultimately painting is an ongoing conversation, an embodied expression that embraces ambiguity. There are multiple interpretations and meaning in this work, not fixed readings, and that's exciting.