The River on a Gray Day 2006

Wolf Kahn made this painting, "The River on a Gray Day", with oil on canvas. Look at how he laid down the colour. It’s not about blending, it’s about stacking. Like he’s building the scene, one block of tone at a time. The way that warm yellow slams up against the cool grays in the sky! Kahn isn't trying to trick us into seeing a photo-realistic landscape. It’s more about feeling the landscape. It feels like he’s inviting us to experience the sensation of light on water, the heaviness of the sky. Check out the way the orange bank on the left is both solid and somehow dissolving into the water. It's like Kahn is saying that the world is made up of things but it is also made up of processes, of constant change. He reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, another colourist who wasn’t afraid to simplify and intensify what he saw. It's this attitude, this willingness to play with what a painting *can* be, that makes the piece so engaging.