Ranch Wyoming 1946

Ivan Albright's "Ranch Wyoming" feels like it was made with watercolor or gouache. It's all loosey-goosey and immediate, like a sketchbook study. There's this tension between representation and pure abstraction. The landscape elements are clearly there, but then, look at the colors! They're almost Fauvist, with pinks and blues popping up where you wouldn't expect. The brushstrokes are visible, almost like you're seeing the artist's process laid bare. Especially those little dashes of color in the foreground, they vibrate like confetti. And the way he handles the sky, with those chunky clouds outlined in dark blue, it feels so intuitive. It is like he is saying ‘this is my memory of the landscape, not reality’ I think Albright is in conversation with someone like Marsden Hartley here, both using expressionistic color to bring something emotional to what they see in the world around them. For me, there's no right or wrong way to read this, just a playful dance between what's real and what's felt.