In the Sunlight 1907

John Duncan Fergusson made this painting, "In the Sunlight", and just look how the paint seems to dance with the light itself. It's all about the joy of putting colours next to each other and seeing what happens. I love how Fergusson lets the brushstrokes do the talking. You can see how the paint is applied quite thickly, giving the surface a real texture. The colours are layered and blended, but not too much, so you still get that sense of each stroke being a decision, a moment. Notice the way he renders the flowers on her hat: quick, bold strokes of red and green. It's like he's trying to capture the essence of the flower, rather than a perfect representation. Fergusson's work makes me think a little of the Fauvist painters, like Matisse, who were all about using colour in a really expressive way. It reminds us that art is a conversation, an ongoing exploration of what it means to see and feel the world around us.