Gelbe Häuser 1909

Alexej von Jawlensky made this painting, Gelbe Hauser or Yellow Houses, with oil on cardboard. The deep blue sky contrasts with the yellow of the buildings, it's a rich and saturated scene. I imagine Jawlensky outside, squinting in the sun, simplifying the scene before him into bold, expressive marks. The paint is applied thickly, almost sculptural in places, giving the houses a tangible, weighty presence. Each brushstroke feels deliberate, like a little decision being made in real-time. I think about the artist's focus, maybe wrestling with how to capture the light, the texture, the feeling of this place. There's a kind of joy in the colour contrasts. I can almost feel his excitement as he lays down each stroke, balancing colour against colour, form against form. Like Van Gogh, it's the joy of mark-making itself, not just describing the scene, but reinventing it.