Summer Day 1921

Henrik Lund created this monochromatic oil on canvas painting, called 'Summer Day', sometime between 1879 and 1935. The way this painting has come into being is through these visible marks of the brush, and the artist's hand seems to be directing us through layers of intuitive shifts. You can feel Lund searching as he is trying to figure out what it is he wants to say. It feels like he's in a conversation with past painters like Manet, who were also pushing the boundaries of representation. Look at the way he's rendered the figures, almost dissolving into the light and atmosphere. There’s a tension between representation and abstraction. The paint application varies from thin washes to thicker strokes, creating texture. Each stroke feels like a decision, a moment of uncertainty resolved, but still carrying the trace of that doubt. This kind of conversation stretches way back and keeps going. I wonder where it will lead?