Summer Day 1921

Henrik Lund made "Summer Day" with paint, probably oils, and a whole lotta mood. It's a big painting, all greyscale, which suggests a certain detachment, a view through memory perhaps. The paint has been put on with real energy, in these broad strokes that don't linger on detail so much as give you a general feeling. The texture is rough and uneven. The artist builds up an image less through line or shape, and more through a process of addition and subtraction. See how the figures emerge from the ground in these messy strokes. The standing figure especially is a flurry of marks that evoke a sense of somebody hovering there. It's all pretty gestural, like the painting is a record of Lund's own movements, a dance of the hand and eye. This reminds me a little of the Ashcan School guys, with their interest in portraying contemporary life, but also of the slightly later work of someone like Manet. There's a similar willingness to sacrifice high definition for a kind of vibrant impression. Ultimately, it’s more about the feeling of a summer day than a literal depiction.