Study for Head of Passagassawaukeg 1992

Neil Welliver made this oil painting, *Study for Head of Passagassawaukeg*, with a palette that seems both restrained and expansive. It's all about how he builds up these cool, muted tones into something that feels really alive. Looking closely, you can see how the paint is laid down in these deliberate, almost blocky strokes. The texture isn’t trying to hide itself; it's right there on the surface, a record of each decision Welliver made. There's this one spot, where the snow meets the dark water, and you can almost feel the chill and the dampness. It reminds me a bit of Fairfield Porter, another painter who found so much in the everyday landscape, and just like Porter, Welliver shows us that the real subject of a painting is often the act of seeing itself. It's not just about what's there, but how we choose to look.