Nature Rhythms 1950

Lawren Harris made this painting, Nature Rhythms, sometime in his career, using a limited palette of browns, tans, and muted whites to conjure up a world in flux. Looking at the painting, I see a landscape reduced to its essential forms. I imagine Harris layering those colors, scraping back, adding more, a kind of call and response with the canvas. Notice how the paint is applied thinly. It’s almost as if the canvas is breathing through the layers. It’s not about a perfect representation. He’s trying to tap into something deeper, a kind of universal harmony. The way Harris uses these rhythmic lines reminds me of Arthur Dove, another painter who sought the spiritual in nature. And like Agnes Martin, Harris strips away the excess, leaving only what is essential. It's like he’s tuning into a frequency, trying to capture the elusive pulse of the natural world.