Art Brokerage: Canadian painter Ross Penhall’s stylized and smartly composed interpretations of landscapes have earned him comparisons to past masters like Grant Wood and members of Canada’s early-20th-century Group of Seven. But as anyone familiar with Penhall’s work knows, the artist has developed a distinct style that is all his own. There is a kind of dramatic tension inherent in each of his paintings, a push-and-pull between the forces of man and nature that can also be read as an exquisite balance: More than anything else, Penhall’s compositions exude an air of tranquility derived from the near-perfect equilibrium of natural and unnatural elements. The paths visible in nearly all his paintings might divide and cut through the landscape, but they also serve to draw us into it, creating a feeling of intimacy.