Landscape 1917

Janos Mattis-Teutsch made this painting of a landscape sometime in the twentieth century. I love the way he's flattened everything out, turning the fields into stripes of colour. It’s like he’s saying, “nature, but make it fashion.” Look at the texture, it’s thick and juicy in places, all those greens, yellows, and pinks squiggling around. It reminds me of Van Gogh, but with a lighter touch. Those vertical white lines of the trees, feel like a series of quick decisions, not labored at all. They're like exclamation points in a landscape of rolling curves. It’s interesting to think about how much art is a conversation through time. The Fauves or the German Expressionists might come to mind here. It's as though Mattis-Teutsch is picking up on something they were doing, but pushing it into his own unique space. Like a painterly remix. Ultimately, it's about embracing ambiguity, and letting the paint do its thing.