Landscape 1983

Sergiy Grigoriev made this watercolor landscape in 1983, using quick strokes of blues, greens, and browns. Look closely at how the paint blooms and flows; there's a real sense of immediacy here. The water at the painting's center is particularly delicious—a horizontal slash of diluted blue that anchors the whole composition. It’s so fast, so gestural! Grigoriev isn't trying to trick you into thinking it's "real" water, but rather he captures a feeling or impression. The way the trees are rendered too, with loose, transparent washes, creates a sense of light and air, as if the scene were caught in a fleeting moment. This reminds me a little of John Marin's watercolors, though Grigoriev feels more grounded, less frenetic. In both artists’ work, the process is so visible, and it's the act of painting itself that becomes the real subject. We can get lost in the rhythm of the brushstrokes, the push and pull of colors, and how an artwork embraces the fluidity and unpredictability of life.