The River 1905

Raoul Dufy made "The River" with oil on canvas, and the way he's put it together is really something. The dominant marks are these quick, gestural brushstrokes in a sunny, summery palette of greens and yellows with pops of blues and reds. It feels like the painting came into being through a kind of back-and-forth, trial and error, but guided by intuition. I can almost feel Dufy's presence as he worked on this piece, the way he might have squinted at the landscape, trying to capture the light and the feeling of the place. It's a landscape, but it's more about the energy of the place than a literal representation. I love how Dufy used this thin paint, almost like watercolor, to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. The way he layers the colors, one on top of the other, reminds me of Matisse. Ultimately, it's a reminder that artists are always in conversation, riffing off each other's ideas, and inspiring new ways of seeing.