Sketch for 'Cemetery, south of France' 1920

Rupert Bunny sketched this landscape, in anticipation of a larger canvas, using oil on wood. Can’t you just imagine him, standing here, brush in hand, squinting in the dappled sunlight of Southern France? I bet he mixed up a sky blue with some green, for that haze over the mountains. And then, those luscious greens and yellows... what a way to capture the light playing on the grass! The paint isn't too thick, but you can feel it, like the warm air on your skin. There's something so alive in how Bunny built up the image. Look at the way he painted the foliage, short strokes, loaded with paint, that evoke the essence of the thing without getting bogged down in details. Other painters, like Bonnard, were doing similar things at this time. It's like they're all having this conversation, across countries and studios, about how to capture a feeling, a fleeting moment, with just a few dabs of color. Painting is just so great isn't it?