Maisema, puita 1910 - 1911

Magnus Enckell made this drawing of a landscape with trees at an unknown date, using what looks like wax crayons. The colours are not blended, but laid down in parallel strokes, which gives the image a slightly vibrating quality. You can almost feel Enckell figuring out the space, building up the layers of colour and form, like a kid with a new box of crayons, only much more sophisticated. Look at the tree trunks, how they’re not just brown but have this purple shadow creeping up them. And the way he's scribbled in the foliage with green and brown, so it feels both dense and airy. It’s a kind of controlled chaos that I really admire. It’s a bit like looking at a Vuillard, isn't it? That same sense of intimacy and quiet observation, but with this really modern, almost Fauvist colour thing going on. Art is such a beautiful conversation across time, isn’t it?