Winter 1942

Ivan Generalic’s “Winter” looks to have been made with paint, maybe oil, on glass or board. The paint application is meticulous, carefully building up the image, which gives a smooth, almost polished feel to the work. You can see Generalic’s patience in the way he builds up the scene. Look at the trees in the background. See how he has taken the time to paint each individual branch and twig? The way he’s used the paint reminds me of the processes involved in folk art traditions, and how the creation of images becomes a deeply personal and repetitive act. I wonder how long it took him to do that snow on the roofs? The whole scene evokes a sense of quiet stillness, of a world suspended in time, and it makes me think of Henri Rousseau, and the way he painted his fantastical visions of the jungle, with the same precise attention to detail. It’s this very ambiguity that makes the work so compelling.