Cività d'Antino in the Abruzzi 1911

Poul S. Christiansen made "Civita d'Antino in the Abruzzi," probably in his studio, working from memory or from plein air studies in oil on canvas. I can see the brushstrokes, how he loaded the brush with earth tones to describe the slopes around the medieval Italian village. I love to think about artists making landscapes, trying to grab the bigness of the world. I imagine Christiansen squinting, trying to get the light just right, deciding which parts of the scene to zoom in on and which to leave a little blurry. It’s like he’s building the town brick by brick, mountain by mountain, in a way that makes it all feel so solid and real. The sky is a real treat here; its loose brushwork and the way it bleeds into the mountains in the background makes me think of late Turner. Artists are always talking to each other, across time and space. When we look at art, we join the conversation.