Swathes of Color

It isn’t surprising that the word swathe is also used to describe broad strips of countryside, or rows of corn. How to depict a vastness of a vista filled with color, without being limited to painstakingly recreate every detail, has aided in shifting certain styles of painting. Typically associated with the looser brushstrokes of the Impressionists,large swathes of color also found a home in modern abstract art during the first half of the 20th century. In the color theory of art, color is used to evoke emotion by artists within compositions, aiding expression. But in abstract art, color is used in its most simplistic form. Thus painting with swathes of color can emote a sense of freedom, of celebrating color at its very best, in abundance. In Artsper’s own selection of works, Marie Labat focuses on the relationship between man and nature in her landscapes, using color to depict the Atlantic Pyrenees. Whilst Nick Tidnam works with a studio that opens up into a garden in order to consistently be affronted by nature. It may seem futile to attempt to limit the vastness of a landscape to a canvas, but such artists know that the ability to do so lies in the use of color…