Big Hello to a Forest Nymph of Lucas Cranach 2010

In "Big Hello to a Forest Nymph of Lucas Cranach" the late Alexander Roitburd's paintbrush dances across the canvas, guided by impulse, building up layers of feeling. I imagine him in his studio, brush in hand, head full of art history, riffing off Lucas Cranach, but in his own voice. You know? It’s like he’s saying hello to the past but also to himself. The sleeping nude is painted with such a delicate touch, such care, then these cartoonish, dreamlike structures in the background. Are they floating in her mind? The paint seems thickly applied in these areas as if he has really scrubbed at the surface. I love the way he captures those fowl floating in space, and the thin yellow and white lines suggesting a connection between the figure and the surrounding forms. It’s a conversation, isn’t it? Roitburd is in dialogue with Cranach, with painting itself, with his own interior world. It’s all so playful and melancholic at the same time.