John H. Twachtman's Winter Harmony explained by Christopher Volpe

Right: Winter Harmony,1890-1900, by John H. Twachtman

Left: detail

I just came across with Christopher Volpe's blog and I'm amazed by the way he make us "see" and "feel" a painting. Excerpts of what he wrote about "Winter Harmony" by John H. Twachtman:

"Twachtman's "Winter Harmony" employs a circular composition to keep the eye moving throughout. But that's not what earned this painting its more or less permanent place in history. The entire thing is a luminous riot of alternating currents - familiar scenery and an extraordinary scene, warm and cool colors, rounded horizontal and straight vertical lines, all playing counterpoint to each other within the larger, circular composition that keeps the eye moving and jumping all over the canvas until the naked lyrical miracle of the thing near knocks you out (!)"

"This is vibrant work. In person, it provoked an old feeling of mine that arises from time to time. It happens when I'm confronted by a work of art of such beauty that I can almost see it flickering between ideality and the real. Sorry if that sounds too mystical. It's a nameless, somehow simultaneously jubilant and melancholy feeling that has something to do with being in the presence of humanity's potential for understanding and achievement despite the brutal indifference of nature and the relentless force of time."

Read the whole article here. and take a look at Chirstopher's blog.

Have a nice weekend.