Ivy Cottage, Coldharbour. Sun and Snow 1916

Lucien Pissarro's 'Ivy Cottage, Coldharbour. Sun and Snow', probably made with oil on canvas, is a study in the mutable qualities of light. You can see Pissarro building up the image with these tiny little strokes, each one a decision, a response to what's already there. That, to me, is the fun of painting, the back-and-forth. There's something really satisfying in the way he's captured the texture of the snow, not just with white, but with touches of pink and blue, like he's chasing the light as it shifts and changes. If you look closely at the figure walking away, you can see how the brushstrokes almost dissolve, giving them a sense of movement, as if they're part of the landscape itself. It’s kind of like how Bonnard uses color to create a feeling of intimacy. The overall effect is quiet, contemplative, but with an undercurrent of something else, something wilder. Art’s not about answers, right? It’s about opening up questions, maybe letting a little light in.