Willows along the stream 1911

Ivan Grohar's 'Willows along the Stream' is built up from very physical marks, almost sculpted into being. The image emerges from a symphony of blues, greens and yellows, laid down with a palette knife or a heavily loaded brush. You know, I can really feel Grohar’s hand in this; the push and pull of the paint, the way he seems to have wrestled with the subject until it yielded its secrets. Those thick strokes aren’t just descriptive, they’re expressive, almost like a kind of code for feeling! Look at the way he drags that dark blue-green across the water, it's full of longing. He probably looked at Courbet and Monet; maybe he wanted to create a sense of light, the feeling of being there, you know? The impression of nature, captured with intensity. What I find amazing is that he seems to be in conversation with them but doing something entirely his own. That’s what painting is all about! A constant exchange of ideas across time, each artist building on what came before, while also forging new paths.