Fir forest road 1908

Arkady Rylov made this painting of a Fir Forest Road with oils. I love the somber palette, all grays and greens, a little brown, which makes the painting feel heavy and still. The paint looks really juicy and applied in an open way; it feels like Rylov really understood how to allow the paint to simply *be*. Look at the way the road curves through the landscape, you can practically feel the soft give of the earth beneath your feet, the trees looming, like huge sentinels. The heaviness of the strokes and colors creates a sense of melancholy and longing, as if the landscape carries the weight of memories, or untold stories. I see a real connection between Rylov's approach and the later work of someone like Lois Dodd, in their shared love for the quiet moments found in nature, and their commitment to paint what they see, directly and without fuss. Ultimately art is about embracing ambiguity, and letting the work speak for itself in its own language.