Lost Patrol 1984

Robert McGinnis, who was born in 1926, created this oil painting called 'Lost Patrol,' and the process looks like he really built up the form through thin layers of color. It is not about heavy impasto but transparent color which gives the landscape a sense of vastness and distance. The texture, the sandy color of the surface, the eroded rocks, it all feels real. I can sense the heat, the wind, and the solitude of that rider on the edge. The way McGinnis blends the hues of red, brown, and beige creates a subtle depth, like looking at a faded photograph where the colors have settled into the material. The small figure of the rider on the horse is so important here, a tiny punctuation mark against the huge landscape. This reminds me a little of some of the landscape work by the American painter, Edward Hopper. There is something about the solitude and quiet drama of the scene that feels connected. Both artists really knew how to turn an ordinary landscape into something really haunting.