Boy with Red Peonies 1910

Robert Lewis Reid painted “Boy with Red Peonies,” using oil on canvas, and its all about how paint can conjure light. The brushwork has a chunky freedom, like the paint was schmeared on wet-into-wet, it’s so juicy. The surface is built up from hundreds of marks, like a mosaic. I love how the pink of the peonies throws reflected light onto the boy’s face. Check out that stroke of red on the left side of his nose, and the way his hair glows with orange. It’s like Reid is saying, hey, this isn’t a boy or some flowers, it’s all just coloured light, baby! It reminds me of Bonnard, and how he threw together figures and patterns until they became this shimmering field of sensation. It's not about capturing a likeness or telling a story, it’s about how painting lets us swim in a world of pure colour.