Noite de inverno em Rondane 1913

Harald Sohlberg made this painting, "Noite de inverno em Rondane," conjuring a winter night using brushes and oil. You can almost feel the coolness radiating from those blues, can't you? Sohlberg's application of paint is what really gets me. The surface isn't glossy, but it’s as if he's layered translucent washes to build up the colours. Look closely and you can see these delicate brushstrokes, especially on the mountain peaks, giving them a tactile, almost velvety texture. Then there's that single star, a tiny but dazzling beacon in the inky sky. It's placed so deliberately, drawing the eye and anchoring the whole composition. Sohlberg’s quiet, contemplative landscapes remind me of Agnes Martin's work, which also have a quiet stillness, but where she often works with grids, Sohlberg creates an entirely believable and emotionally evocative space. It's a testament to how different artists, across time, explore similar themes of perception and the sublime through such different means, leaving the meaning open for us.