By the Cellar 1917

This is 'By the Cellar' by Carl Larsson, a watercolor done in 1917. Look at the way Larsson approaches the earth itself. It’s all these washes of colour and a kind of speckled effect that makes the ground feel alive, like a living thing that's breathing. The paint here is really thin, almost like he's staining the paper, letting the light bounce back through. And yet, there's a density there too, especially when you look at the little girl in the foreground, the way her face is rendered. Her little bucket is so great! I love how the earth is this mix of ochre and browns, but then there's this patch of green in the middle ground that pops and pulls your eye in. It reminds me of Fairfield Porter, another painter who had an amazing sense for capturing light and place. Ultimately, there's something unresolved and open about this, in the best possible way.