The yellow and black jersey 1909

Max Pechstein conjured this landscape and figures in oil, probably sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. Looking at that bright yellow and black jersey, the hot pink bodies of the figures, the overall vividness, I imagine the artist applying these colors quickly, with a thick brush, one color laid down next to the other, to create vibrating contrasts. I wonder, what was Pechstein thinking about as he put down those strokes of paint? Was he trying to capture a specific memory or feeling? Or was he just letting the paint lead him? The way the brushstrokes build up, especially in the trees and sky, suggests a real urgency, a desire to capture the energy of a scene rather than just its appearance. The hot pink color he has used on the bodies of the figures reminds me of the Fauvist paintings of Henri Matisse. It seems to me that artists are always looking at each other’s work, responding, borrowing, and transforming, across time, in an ongoing conversation. And it’s precisely this kind of exchange that makes painting such a vibrant and ever-evolving form of expression.