Mount Zion 1976

Avigdor Arikha made "Mount Zion" with watercolor paint in tones of browns, creams and yellows that bleed into each other in an ethereal wash. I can feel Arikha’s hand in the making of this image. His close looking, his hesitations. I imagine him, brush in hand, squinting, trying to nail the exact tone of the light bouncing off the stone. I bet he was chasing a particular atmosphere, an elusive feeling that comes with being in that place, at that time. Look at the way the paint pools and gathers at the base, creating a horizon line. It’s like he let the water do its thing, surrendering control to the medium. That one stroke carries the weight of the whole composition. You can almost feel the sun beating down, the dry earth, and the ancient history embedded in the very stones of Jerusalem. Painters are always in conversation with each other, riffing off ideas, pushing boundaries, and finding new ways to see. The real magic is how Arikha manages to capture a sense of timelessness with such simple means. It’s a reminder that painting, at its best, is an act of profound observation and interpretation, not just representation.