Pumpkin Sky 1947

Hulda D. Robbins made this print, Pumpkin Sky, on paper. The shapes here are so simplified, almost cartoonish, but not quite. It is all about the color relationships; these muted tones somehow vibrate against each other, but it’s subtle, not too loud. Robbins is really thinking about the push and pull of making a picture, how forms create space, and how colors evoke different feelings. Look at that tree, such a simple form, and yet it grounds the whole picture, acting almost like a plumb line. Now, if you notice the orange area, like a stage set, that the tree occupies, it almost feels as if the picture is made up of layered paper cut-outs. This makes me think of Matisse's late work, when he was making cut-outs. But Robbins has her own thing, she’s less interested in pure abstraction than in trying to capture the essence of a place, a time, a feeling. You can almost smell the crisp autumn air looking at it! It is so satisfying and, somehow, so complete.