The Vistula near Tyniec at Sunset 1901

Leon Wyczółkowski must have stood somewhere high to paint this view of the Vistula at sunset. You can feel the landscape receding, layer by layer. The colours go from ochre-yellow into rose, then into these muted, hazy blues. Imagine standing where he stood, trying to capture that fleeting moment as the sun dips below the horizon. What I like here is that Wyczółkowski's not trying to give us a hyper-realistic rendering, but instead evoke the feeling of the landscape. Look how he uses the paint, those thin washes, and the way the colours blend together to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. You can see a dialogue with other landscape painters in the history of art here. Think of Turner! He would also try to express the sublime power of nature through colour and light. It's like artists are having this endless conversation across time, riffing on each other's ideas, and pushing the boundaries of what painting can do.