Near Fortunen, Jægersborg Deer Park, North of Copenhagen 1901

Vilhelm Hammershøi painted this landscape, "Near Fortunen, Jægersborg Deer Park, North of Copenhagen," with oils, building a world of quiet observation. His muted palette and soft, almost hazy application of paint speaks to a thoughtful, deliberate process. Look closely and you can see how the paint is applied in thin layers, allowing the texture of the canvas to peek through in places. There's a transparency that gives the entire scene a dreamlike quality. The sunlight filtering through the trees is so beautifully rendered; the long shadows stretch across the foreground, anchoring the composition and creating a sense of depth. Notice how the branches are not precisely rendered; it's more about capturing the essence of the scene, and how light changes things. Hammershøi reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter, both artists being interested in the way memory and perception shift our understanding of reality. Like Hammershøi’s art, painting is about searching for meaning, not necessarily finding it.