Landscape

About this artwork

Nicolas Party's *Landscape* (2023) is a striking contemporary painting that invites viewers into a vibrant, dreamlike vision of nature. Measuring 65 × 75 inches, this large-scale work on canvas—recently gifted to the National Gallery of Art by Stuart Barr and Sarah Mackey-Barr—exemplifies Party's signature style as a Swiss artist known for his bold, color-saturated compositions. Housed in the CMC department, it bridges traditional landscape genres with modern abstraction, encouraging us to reconsider how we perceive the natural world. The choice of soft pastel as a medium is particularly noteworthy. Typically associated with smaller-scale drawings on paper, Party's application on canvas demands masterful control to achieve its velvety texture and luminous depth, often requiring fixatives to preserve the delicate pigment layers. This technique amplifies the work's tactile immediacy, allowing colors to blend and layer in ways that mimic atmospheric effects while highlighting Party's fascination with perception and emotion. As a 2023 acquisition, *Landscape* underscores the National Gallery's commitment to living artists, capturing the vitality of today's art scene where pastels reclaim prominence in fine art. Pause before it to savor how Party transforms a simple vista into a portal of wonder.