Oil on canvas. Painted in 1971.
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This impressionistic painting had no records of name given by Sydna. So, the name and description is based on our knowledge of her and her experiences.
What I enjoy about this painting is the way my eye moves through it. It starts in the lower-half, as my brain seeks structure, and I notice, what appears to be, a working dock - not recreational. And, due to the boat sizes and waterway, it appears to be smaller in size, although used somewhat heavily. Then, my eye moves briefly to the hillside in the left foreground, before sweeping back to the water, and beyond the building to the dream-like land beyond the buildings, with it's swirling brush strokes, and recognizing hints of trees with darkened green leaves. Then, my eye moves back left, and deeper into the painting, noticing the more defined strokes, creating a mountainous-look. And, moving beyond to notice the darkened blue appearance of more distant and larger mountains. I notice the arc of peach and pink behind the mountains, indicating the subtle beauty of rising or setting sunlight. Although that arc could have a different significance, since they contrast with the shading above. That's when my I look at the clouds above, the beautiful, wispy feeling of the gray clouds. And, finally, I am pulled to the iridescence of white and silver, the brightest of light trying to peek through the gray skies.
I enjoy the beauty of the work and wonder if it was a Japanese fishing village. Sydna loved the Japanese culture and visited Japan a few times in her life. To, me, that would explain the inclusion of a rising sun. I also look at the two people depicted on the dock and their clothing reminds me of working-class Japanese people.
The painting, itself, has a similar composition to her 1965 work, Purple Mountains Majesty. The foreground has less here, in this case some dock pillars. But, similarities include an obstruction in the medium distance. On the left here, it's a hillside. In Majesty, it was a waterfall. The distant shoreline is somewhat similar between the paintings. Both works have bodies of water that appear to bend off to the distant left. And, both works, appear to have their light source from the top, left of the painting.
See more of the Landscape Collection here.
