Fall Afternoon 

Timur Akhriev made this vibrant oil on canvas, entitled ‘Fall Afternoon’, sometime after 1983, the year of his birth. It depicts a sun-drenched park in the throes of autumn. Akhriev was born in the former Soviet Union, but has spent much of his artistic career in the United States. This painting demonstrates the influence of American Impressionism, a movement that prioritised light and colour in its depiction of landscape. The gestural brushstrokes and vivid palette create an image that is both representational and abstract, a balance also struck by the earlier generation of American landscape painters. The painting also speaks to the traditions of plein air painting - of taking art out of the studio and into nature - which can be seen as having democratic and progressive associations. The art historian can look at the influences of place and training on Akhriev’s style, and to the wider traditions of landscape painting that are at play in this work.