Edwin and Romilly 1912

Augustus John made this painting of Edwin and Romilly using oil paint, and it feels like he mixed his colours right on the canvas. The way he's slapped those blues and reds together is so immediate, you can almost feel him pushing the paint around. There's something so direct about this piece. The texture isn’t overworked, the application is fairly thin, and you can sense the hand of the artist. Look at the way the tree branches are constructed, it's gestural but simplified. It’s like he was trying to capture an essence, not just a likeness. The color palette is oddly muted, almost dreamlike. It’s cool without being cold, which gives this painting a peculiar emotional punch. John seems to have a similar interest in capturing the human figure as someone like Paula Modersohn-Becker. Like her, he is interested in portraying figures in a direct, truthful manner, rather than idealising them.