Garden Gate 1914

August Macke made this watercolour, Garden Gate, and it feels like he was chasing a fleeting impression. It’s a dance of blues and greens and reds, dashed across the page with a kind of joyful urgency. I imagine Macke, maybe in his own garden, quickly trying to capture the light as it filters through the trees and bounces off the gate. He's sloshing the paint around, letting the colours bleed and mingle, not so interested in perfect representation. What’s he thinking? Maybe about Matisse, about colour as pure sensation? Look how the blue of the gate drips down, pooling at the bottom, creating a shadow that feels almost alive. And the red accents – pops of energy that vibrate against the cool blues and greens. You can feel the hand of the artist, the quick flick of the wrist. It’s a conversation between Macke and the world, a momentary glimpse transformed into something lasting. It reminds you that painting is just another way of seeing.