The Sea and the Mountain 1951

Else Alfelt created "The Sea and the Mountain" using watercolor, and it serves as a window into her profound engagement with the natural world. Alfelt was deeply involved with the COBRA movement, a collective known for its embrace of abstraction and an uninhibited, spontaneous approach to art-making. This painting moves away from traditional landscape depictions. Alfelt uses geometric forms to convey a sense of nature's inherent structures. The coolness of the blues and greens invites a sense of serenity, perhaps echoing the peace Alfelt sought amidst the tumultuous times of the mid-20th century. Her focus wasn't on replicating reality but rather on capturing the emotional and spiritual essence of her subjects. Alfelt once said, "Art is a search, an experiment. Only the search teaches you something." This piece is emblematic of Alfelt's broader artistic quest to articulate and communicate a sense of universal harmony. It captures the quiet power of nature.