Purple road 1962

Yuriy Khymych made this painting, Purple Road, with what looks like confident strokes of gouache or maybe acrylic. The colours are not exactly realistic - but who needs reality? It's a world of purples, oranges and blues, a colour scheme that gives the whole piece a slightly melancholic feel. The paint isn't overworked, you can see the hand of the artist in the directness of each mark. Look at the way he’s built up the tiled roofs with simple, repetitive strokes of orange, edged with blue. The paint looks smooth, flat, like it was laid down quickly, without too much fuss. I like this, it tells me that Khymych isn't trying to hide the process, but rather celebrate the act of painting. This reminds me a bit of Milton Avery’s landscapes, in the way he uses simplified shapes and a limited palette to create a mood. With Khymych, as with Avery, it's not about capturing a scene perfectly, but about finding a way to express a feeling through colour and form. Art is always a conversation, and there's room for everyone to join in.