Tempes kjølige dal 1945 - 1946

Jakob Weidemann made this painting, Tempes kjølige dal, with oil paint and a great big appetite for colour. I love how the colours don't quite match the forms, like he's allowing himself to free-associate. Look how he builds up these patchwork landscapes, full of figures, animals, and strange architectural forms. It's like a dreamscape, or a memory slowly coming into focus. There's this bright orange horse near the bottom, painted so flatly, like a child's toy. And then beside that, the face in yellow, so still and composed amid all the chaos. I'm reminded of Picabia's late paintings, where he collaged images from magazines in a very loose style. Weidemann here seems to be involved in a similar project. It’s like he's saying that art is always in conversation with other art, always borrowing and transforming. Ultimately, it's that ambiguity, the sense of endless possibilities, that keeps me coming back to this piece.