The Facade of Marquayrol 1915

Henri Martin, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, built The Facade of Marquayrol with little touches of paint, like confetti, in soft greens and blues and yellows. I'm trying to picture Martin here, squinting a bit maybe, brush in hand, trying to catch the way light bounces off leaves. Did he mix his colors right there on the canvas, making it up as he went? I wonder if he was chasing after something specific or just letting the garden guide him. You see that column over there? It’s like a full stop in the middle of all that green. There's something about the way he’s daubed paint on the canvas that feels…generous. Like he's not trying to nail down every detail, but instead create an overall sensation. And that connects to other painters, too, like Monet, who were interested in capturing light and fleeting moments. It’s like they were all in this big conversation about how to really see the world. It reminds me that making art is just a way of feeling your way through things, not necessarily knowing where you’ll end up.