Bondehus med eng blomster 1909

Hans Andersen Brendekilde made this painting of a cottage in a field, using oils, and just look at all those colours. It looks so casual, but there's real love in how he handled that paint. I mean, check out the flowers in the foreground, thick and clumpy, almost like he's built them up layer by layer. Then, your eye goes back to the way the white of the cottage glows against the dark thatch of the roof, and further back to the muted colours of the distant windmill. It's not about perfect realism, but about capturing a mood. And isn’t that what painting is all about, anyway? The painting reminds me a little bit of Van Gogh actually, someone else who was able to capture something spiritual in everyday scenes. Art isn’t about right answers, but how we can feel our way into seeing the world.