Calm 1926

Fujishima Takeji painted “Calm” with what looks like thin layers of oil, almost like watercolor. Look at the mountains fading into the horizon, they remind me of Cezanne, but with a Japanese twist. The colours are muted, yet there’s this vibrant rainbow on the left. It's like a dream, a memory of a landscape. Notice the water: it’s not just blue, but layers of violet, green, and gray, giving it depth and movement. The brushstrokes are soft and blended, but in the clouds you see these little dabs of pink, as though someone was being playful with the colour. I keep coming back to the rainbow, though, it seems as though Takeji is in conversation with Turner, who used these bursts of light to make his paintings sing. It makes this painting more than just a landscape, it is a feeling.