Le Square 1917 - 1918

Édouard Vuillard built this painting with brushstrokes, one on top of the other, like a pointillist. The colours are muted – greens, yellows, blues and browns. I imagine Vuillard standing there, trying to capture the moment and the atmosphere of this urban garden. It's easy to imagine him squinting to see through the changing light, feeling the weight of the brush in his hand as he tries to make marks that capture the softness of the leaves. Are they really that colour? It's like he’s thinking about Bonnard, but moving in his own direction, trying to see the world in a new way. Look at how the leaves are just little touches of colour, creating a kind of veil or screen. It reminds me that art is about seeing and feeling as much as it is about accurately depicting the world. We all have the same subject matter, but a different way of seeing. How can one artist push another into seeing the world differently, even for a second?