Intimately sized, Untitled, from the Deserto-Modelo series, beckons the viewer to come closer, inviting them to peer into the meticulously applied brushstrokes that bring into form a complex rendition of a horizon line at the cusp of dawn or dusk. Existing at the point of tension between abstraction and figuration, the present work masterfully exemplifies São Paulo artist Lucas Arruda’s exploration of the sensations of atmosphere suspended within the medium of paint. Evocative of the academic tradition of landscape painting, his meditative scenes recall its historical associations with the Romantic sublime, yet in his persistent, almost obsessive pursuit of light, Arruda transcends the genre through a distinctly contemporary lens.
"Light is what binds my works together, as if I am balancing light and shadow." —Lucas Arruda
Executed in 2013, Untitled perfectly showcases the rich painterly language for which Arruda is acclaimed. Juxtaposing the monumental vastness of the expansive scene depicted, the composition is rendered in a relatively small format. Up close, the sheer craft of the work is striking, built up of thick swathes of paint in a monochromatic colour palette of grey and variant tints of Prussian blue that the artist applies in small, precise brushstrokes whilst standing, mixing colours on the wall around the perimeters of the work. Through wiping, peeling or scraping, paint is then removed and the subtraction of pigment carves a transcendent light from darkness that radiates from the horizon line that is just out of reach, accentuating the stormy clouds that billow into the foreground.

Drawing inspiration from the writings of Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto, from whom the term ‘Deserto-Modelo’ is borrowed, numerous other influences are palpable in Arruda’s ethereal works. In its modest size, Untitled brings to mind the seventeenth-century landscapes of a similar scale (see for example Harbour Scene at Sunset (1643)), whilst Arruda’s articulation of light, perspective and the capabilities of tonality undeniably align the work with the late, magnificent seascapes of J.M.W. Turner (see for example Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth (circa 1842)). Exploring this connection, esteemed critic Oliver Basciano elaborates: ‘There is a similar turbulence to the brushwork, a similar invocation of the apparently infinite power of nature, a similar feeling of impotence provoked in the viewer by that thought. Yet Arruda’s scenes are lonelier than those of the historical artists…. Turner and Constable gradually remove the figure in their work…. Arruda goes a step further. Apparently no one lives in or ventures to the places he paints (except, in a way, us); in fact, the materiality of Arruda’s landscape is all but disregarded in favour of atmosphere’ i.