The Creation 1902

James Tissot made this small painting, The Creation, using watercolor and gouache, and it's interesting how he didn't try to nail down the imagery. Instead, he let the medium do the heavy lifting. The painting is all about the surface. It's gauzy, scrubbed back, like he built it up and then took a brush to it, pulling it all apart while it was still wet. The top left corner is especially interesting to me. It’s almost abstract. It is an interesting study in contrasts. The darker shades really make the source of light in the painting pop, drawing my attention to the sun’s reflection on the water, or the cloudy origin point. It’s like he understood something about the process of creation itself – messy, iterative, and ultimately, a bit mysterious. This reminds me a bit of what Turner was trying to do with light and atmosphere, though Tissot brings his own touch. Art's just a big conversation, right?