Landscape at the Vistula 1903 - 1907

Jacek Malczewski made this painting of the Vistula, with oil on canvas and feeling. I imagine he was standing there, looking over the landscape, thinking about tone and form, but also about memory, place, and loss. See how the colours drift into each other, creating a hazy atmosphere? There's a muted quality to the palette, a kind of melancholy. The brushstrokes are broad, and the paint isn't overworked. He’s laying down tones and letting the image emerge. The dark blues and greens in the foreground lead your eye back into the pale river and distant horizon. Maybe Malczewski was thinking of the French Impressionists, but he's doing his own thing. It reminds me of Van Gogh, who was also able to make something so intensely personal with just a few strokes of paint. Painters are always in conversation, you know? They're looking at each other, learning from each other, and pushing each other to see the world in new ways. Malczewski did just that.