Fisherman, Cape Elizabeth, Maine 1922

George Luks painted "Fisherman, Cape Elizabeth, Maine" on canvas with oil paint. What strikes me first is the process-oriented approach in the painting, visible in the direct, unblended brushstrokes. The painting is very much about the material qualities of paint; the texture, the color, the surface. Luks doesn’t hide the physicality of the medium. You can see exactly where the brush touched the canvas, especially in the foreground where the beach meets the sea, where strokes of greens, browns, and yellows create a shimmering effect. The artist used opaque paints to describe the scene of a fisherman unloading his catch. This is in contrast to how he rendered the cliff face in the background, where the colors are allowed to blend into one another. Luks' style reminds me of the Ashcan School painters, with their interest in everyday life. This painting invites multiple interpretations. What do you think?