Description
Before focusing on this one work of art, try taking in the whole wall, starting at the painting on the far left. Allow your eyes to move from left to right, noting how the style changes from one to the next. The shift towards abstraction and expressive brushwork in American landscapes can be seen clearly in this progression of three paintings, which date from the early to the late 1900s. As you turn your attention to Berthot’s painting, the most modern of these three works, notice how the artist not only creates an illusion of a frame but also disrupts that illusion through the expressive brushwork of this imagined border.
Some of Berthot’s paintings have been compared to Monet’s late work, such as his water lilies, and Berthot himself acknowledges the influence of painters like Cézanne. In Berthot’s recent canvases, landscapes emerge more clearly, but the paintings still walk the line between the concrete and the abstract. In a 2013 interview Berthot said, “Now, I don’t want to depict nature; I want to paint nature’s phenomena. Who knew I could end up back in total abstraction? The painting is always the boss. I go where it says to go; it is endless. That’s the beauty of painting. That is its freedom.”
Details
- Work Date:
- 1981
- Location:
- Warbeke Gallery
- Medium:
- Oil on linen