Thistles 1906

Tadeusz Makowski’s painting, Thistles, probably made with oil on canvas, feels like a sensory experience, a walk through a forest where the thistles almost hum with hidden life. I see the artist building up layers of color with short, choppy strokes. Blues, greens, and purples intertwine to create depth and shadow, while touches of white suggest the delicate thistles. I imagine Makowski standing before his easel, squinting at the thistles, trying to capture not just what he sees but how he feels. There’s a sense of movement in the brushwork, like the thistles are swaying in the breeze, their spiky forms softened by the dappled light. It's not just a representation of a landscape, but a record of an encounter between the artist and nature. You get a sense that he is conversing with other impressionist painters, or even Cezanne, working through how to make a space on the canvas, an ecosystem. Ultimately, it's a reminder that paintings are not just about what they depict, but about the ongoing dialogue between artists across time and space.