Evening, Tangiers 1906

Sir John Lavery painted this scene, Evening, Tangiers, with oil on canvas sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century; look at how the brushstrokes are visible, almost choppy, especially in the foliage. This isn’t about smooth illusionism, it’s about the pleasure of paint, the process of making. You can see the materiality in the thick impasto, especially in the highlights on the white wall, it gives the painting a tactile quality. The colors feel muted, like looking through a haze, almost like a memory. Notice the woman, she’s a kind of anchor, leaning on the wall, and look at that ochre sash, that little punch of color that draws your eye and prevents the scene from dissolving entirely into atmosphere. Lavery’s work reminds me a bit of Whistler, that interest in capturing a mood more than a photographic likeness, a sensitivity to the poetry of place. Painting isn’t just about what we see, it's about how we feel, and all of these choices create a space for contemplation, a space for our own imaginations to wander.