The Church of Saint-Séverin c. 1913

Maurice Utrillo made this painting of the Church of Saint-Séverin in Paris using oil on canvas. Just look at those ghostly buildings and the church tower, all rendered in pale whites, grays, and greens! I can almost feel what it was like for Utrillo to stand there, probably in the cold, trying to capture the essence of this place. You know, the weight of the buildings, the silence of the street, the sky pressing down. I bet it was a struggle to get the colors just right, to make the painting feel as real as the place itself. I love how he used the paint, layering it on to create a sense of texture and depth. See those lines of the building? How they seem to waver and almost disappear into the background? That's what painting is all about: an artist trying to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time. We can appreciate his work by recognizing that painters like Utrillo were not isolated geniuses. Instead, they were in ongoing conversation. We can feel that exchange in this painting, and that inspires our own creativity.