This painting (acrylic on canvas) originally measured 50 x 50 centimetres,
It was mainly worked with palette knives. A ground of (a lot of) gesso was applied first. Distributing this unevenly creates structure/some relief.
The style is abstract and surrealistic/futuristic.
Technically, grattage (literally: scraping) has been applied. To be precise: grattage with a palette knife in the still wet paint. In the process, the top layer is partly removed, revealing the underlying layer. This creates organic (or: biomorphic) forms but also sharp, taut lines. The earthy colour creates beautiful transitions and nuances.
Grattage was invented and used in the middle of the last century by Joan Miró, Antonio Saura and Max Ernst, among others. The technique is characteristic of movements such as Futurism, Cubism and Surrealism.
This painting is titled ''Relief and landscape''. In a (desert?) landscape, we see all kinds of shapes and constructions. Are they natural forms or human constructions? Are they artefacts from a distant past or are they recent activities? What scale applies here? Are we looking in a sandbox; is this an aerial view of the desert (desert storm?) or a satellite image of the moon?
The wondrous constructions look futuristic....
I am Auke de Jong (male, born 1953, married) and live in Hellevoetsluis (the Netherlands). I am also regularly in Hungary (in Mágocs), where we have a second home. As far as I know, I have been drawing and painting since my earliest childhood; later also.. Read more…