Sam Paonessa’s Seeing Red, Algonquin captures an autumn stream winding through the rugged landscape of Algonquin Park. Fast-moving water spills over a low rocky ledge and flows toward the foreground, its cool whites, blues and violets contrasting sharply with the intense fall foliage surrounding it.

Brilliant reds and oranges dominate the right side of the composition, while the opposite bank is built from layers of yellow, gold, green and rust-coloured leaves. Slender birches and darker evergreens rise through the middle distance, creating a dense woodland backdrop. Large dark rocks along the stream provide strong visual anchors and emphasize the rough terrain.

Paonessa uses energetic, highly textured brushwork throughout, with dabs, streaks and broken passages of colour suggesting leaves, grasses, reflected light and turbulent water rather than describing them in precise detail. The vivid palette gives the scene an almost luminous quality, particularly where the red foliage is set against deep greens and blue-violet shadows.

Seeing Red, Algonquin conveys the intensity of Ontario’s autumn colour at its peak, combining rushing water, exposed rock and richly coloured forest into an energetic interpretation of the Algonquin landscape.