Gamtovaizdis Su Aviliais 1922

Vytautas Kairiukstis made this landscape with pastels. You can see how the marks are laid down, one next to the other. It’s very direct, very simple, and it kind of reminds me that artmaking is just about putting one thing next to another. The green and yellow pastels build up this field of grass, but it's not just grass, it's an abstract idea of grass, or maybe an emotional feeling of grass. I love how the little strokes of orange peek through, adding a little zing of warmth. It makes the whole field vibrate. The small structures, maybe those are the titular beehives, are rendered with the same directness, little blocks of color that sit comfortably in the landscape. In a way, this reminds me of Paul Klee, that same interest in reducing form to its essence. It's a way of seeing the world anew, with fresh eyes.