Rainy landscape 1977

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas made this painting, Rainy Landscape, with a real sense of atmospheric perspective. It's all about washes and thin layers, like the landscape is dissolving before your eyes. The overall effect is like memory, where the edges blur and details fade. Looking at the lower half, you can see these thin, vertical drips. They’re like the painting itself is weeping, or maybe it’s the rain that's been evoked in the title? There’s a lovely tension between the solidity of the subject – trees, ground – and the ephemeral way it's been rendered, almost like a mirage. This painting really reminds me of some of Turner’s later works, where form is secondary to light and mood. Both artists were really interested in capturing a feeling, more than a literal representation. It’s a reminder that art can be about suggestion and feeling, rather than fixed ideas.