A Riverscape of Spirits

A Riverscape of Spirits (Original mother canvas) holds a special place in my Matt Vegh's journey as it is the very first landscape abstract he ever created. Painted on the back patio of his QingYang Studio in Chengdu, Thick palette-knife impasto and layered metallics collide to capture the raw energy of the Canadian wilderness and the spirit-filled forests of Northern Ontario.

What many viewers interpret as figures emerging from the trees or small boats on the river were never intentionally painted. These forms appeared entirely on their own through the chaos of texture and color: a beautiful example of the painting’s living, autonomous spirit. This unintentional emergence of “spirits” gave the work its name.

This is the original mother canvas that directly inspired Matt Vegh's later painting Figures by the Minjiang River, which sold for $30,000 USD at the Shanghai Bellagio. A Riverscape of Spirits remains a deeply personal milestone: wild, untamed, and full of the discovery, energy, and cross-cultural resonance that continues to define his practice today.