Landscape 1919

Ivan Milev made this Landscape with paint and what looks like ink. It has a wonderful way of seeing that feels both grounded and like something from a dream. The color palette in this piece is unusual; sort of earthen, and a little strange. I find myself focusing on the tree in the midground, which has these dark brown speckles within the yellow which seems to mimic the roof tops above. This way of working, where shapes repeat and echo across the work, reminds me of Gustav Klimt. The ink outlines are so confident. There are no mistakes or changes; each mark looks absolutely sure of itself. The image is full of this tension between confidence and doubt, and between control and accident. It's not so much a landscape as an ongoing conversation. And it invites us to join in.