The boat at the lake 2016

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this small watercolour painting, “The boat at the lake”, in 1976, and it feels like a quick sketch, made on the spot. The marks are light and airy, and the colours are simple, a wash of blues, greens and yellows laid down loosely. I love how the texture of the paper is still visible underneath the paint, it reminds you that artmaking is a process, and this feels like a very immediate response to a real place. Look at how the blue of the boat’s reflection bleeds into the brown of the shore, and the yellow of the tree drips down the right-hand side of the page. It is the kind of effect you only get with watercolour, and the way Krupa uses it here, really brings out the watery, liquid feel of the scene. For me, the approach is similar to some of the early work of Gerhard Richter; the focus on the everyday, captured with a sense of ease. It’s a really lovely piece.