Charing Cross Bridge 1906

André Derain gave us this view of Charing Cross Bridge in oil on canvas sometime in the early 1900s. It's like he's not just painting what he sees, but also how he feels about it. Look at the pinks, yellows, and blues – they're not quite realistic, but they capture the energy of a city. There’s this push and pull between the real and the imagined. The paint is laid on pretty thick, so you can almost feel the texture of the city, the brushstrokes alive with a kind of nervous energy. Notice how the blues of the bridge and sky kind of bleed into each other. I’m reminded of Van Gogh – that same urge to twist the everyday into something wild and personal. It's like Derain is saying, "Here's London, but here's also how London makes me feel." And that's the kind of art that sticks with you, that makes you see the world in a slightly different way.