Artist on a Quay 1962 - 1964

Captain Edward Molyneux, who was born in 1891, painted "Artist on a Quay" with oil on canvas, without pinning down the exact moment he made it. The way the paint's put down, in these confident little pats and strokes, you get the feeling of someone figuring it out as they go. The colors are doing a lot of work here: that dreamy blue-green water, the boats with their creamy whites and pops of yellow, it all hums together. Look at the water—the way he suggests ripples and reflections with just a few swipes of the brush. It's like he's not trying to copy the scene, but to catch a feeling, a mood. The whole thing reminds me of some of the Impressionists, like Monet. But Molyneux has his own voice. It's a little rougher, maybe a little more honest. It's like he's saying, "Here's what I saw, but also, here's how it felt." And that, to me, is what art's all about.