Rantamaisema 

Albert Edelfelt’s "Rantamaisema" is a landscape made with watercolor, a medium known for its fluidity and translucence. The paper support absorbs the washes of color, creating soft, atmospheric effects. See how the light seems to dissolve the forms, blurring the line between water and sky. Watercolor demands a certain speed and spontaneity, so the artist had to work with the flow of the medium, rather than against it. Edelfelt captures a sense of place with minimal detail, suggesting the vastness of the Finnish landscape, and relying on the material qualities of watercolor to evoke a mood. In choosing watercolor over oil paint, traditionally seen as a ‘higher’ medium, Edelfelt aligns himself with a more intimate, immediate approach to art-making. In doing so, he elevates the status of a humble material, using it to convey a profound connection to the natural world, and this invites us to reconsider the value we place on different artistic practices.