W świat 1901

Ferdynand Ruszczyc made "W świat," which translates to "Into the World," with oil paint in a way that feels almost like a raw, direct response to the landscape. You get the sense that the process was about capturing a feeling more than depicting a scene. There's such a materiality here, isn't there? Look at how the paint is applied, thick and almost sculptural in the foreground, where you can practically feel the weight of the earth. Then, as your eye moves upward, the paint thins out, becoming more atmospheric as it describes the sky. I find myself drawn to the streaks of white that suggest falling rain; they’re so direct, so immediate. It’s like Ruszczyc isn’t trying to fool you into thinking you’re there, but rather, he’s showing you how he felt being there. This reminds me a bit of Courbet's landscapes, in the way he used paint to convey not just what he saw, but how he experienced the world. In the end, it's always a conversation, isn't it?