Veneitä rannalla 1902

Magnus Enckell’s Boats on the Shore is an oil painting that presents these earthy, pastel, muted tones. I like to imagine Enckell himself there, by the water, conjuring this world as he mixes the colors on his palette. I sympathize with the artist, there, caught between the solid forms of the boats and the beckoning openness of the water. What was he thinking when he put that boy in the boat with the telescope? Was he thinking of other paintings? The painting feels so tender and intimate, that it speaks to me about the work of painting itself. I think about Vuillard, Bonnard, even Whistler – all artists who, like Enckell, embraced ambiguity. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. And painting can be a form of embodied expression which embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.