Heat Haze 1919

Dorrit Black made this hazy landscape with oil, but its date is unknown. It's the kind of piece where you can really feel the artist working through the paint, like each dab is a little decision. Up close, you can see how the colors blend, kinda like how memory works. The surface has this soft texture, almost like velvet, which pulls you into the scene. There's a fence at the bottom of the painting, and the way Black painted it with these little strokes, it’s not just a fence, it’s like a barrier between the real and the remembered. It’s these details that give the painting its atmosphere. "Heat Haze" reminds me a bit of Fairfield Porter’s landscapes, with that same loose, atmospheric quality, but with a touch more mystery. It’s a reminder that paintings don’t have to shout to be heard; sometimes, the quiet ones have the most to say.