In a gothic garden 1990

Eyvind Earle made this garden scene using flat colors and strong lines. I imagine him carefully layering colors, one on top of the other, almost like printmaking. The tall figures become like trees in a forest. They are elegant and thin, and I can imagine Earle thinking about classic painters like Botticelli while creating this composition. It feels like he is playing with flatness and depth at the same time. I get the sense that the dresses are also part of the landscape - like they are wearing the garden as a kind of disguise. It makes me think of the way that artists are always borrowing from each other, and how all art is in conversation with the art of the past. Each mark builds upon the ones that came before, and then some. There are no new ideas, only new ways of seeing and feeling. I guess Earle knew that when he made this.