Luncheon on the Grass 1920

Vilhelm Lundstrom made 'Luncheon on the Grass' with oil on canvas, and the dominant color is definitely green, like murky pond water. The thick paint makes the figures lumpy, almost doughy. Imagine Lundstrom wrestling with the image, pushing and pulling the paint, trying to get the forms to sit just so. I get the sense he wasn’t striving for perfection. Take a look at the figure on the right, he hasn't even got a head. The brushstrokes are loaded with feeling, capturing a fleeting moment of interaction and quiet contemplation. Maybe he was thinking about Manet's painting of the same name? This feels like a strange homage, the figures are like mannequins, stripped bare of their context. Painting can be like a conversation between artists across time, each adding their own voice and perspective to the ongoing dialogue. It’s this kind of risky, unresolved painting that really gets me going, the kind that embraces ambiguity and lets you bring your own thoughts and feelings to the table.