Forest with sheep 1900 - 1910

Ľudovít Čordák made this painting of a forest with sheep using oil on canvas. The brown and green hues wrap around the trees and the forest bed, creating a sense of depth and enclosure. I can imagine Čordák standing there in the forest, trying to capture the way the light filters through the leaves and the ground rises to meet the forest in the background. The way he’s rendered the light suggests he knows that green is never just green. There are flecks of yellow, brown, and white. The composition feels like a conversation between foreground and background, with the trees acting as mediators. Čordák probably knew a thing or two about the Barbizon school of painting. Artists are always looking, sharing, and borrowing from each other’s visions. It’s one big, messy, beautiful conversation across time.