Second Bucolic: The Property of Virgil on the Banks of the Mincio 1955

Jacques Villon made this beautiful lyrical scene, Second Bucolic, with a few strokes and a light touch. I can imagine him building up the image gradually, through thin washes of blue, green, and yellow. Notice how he overlays the different colors to create such a luminous effect. There’s something so tender about the way Villon captures the light reflecting on the water, making the river appear as a soft, shimmering band across the landscape. You can see how the artist used light to dissolve and abstract the forms. Think about the tradition of landscape painting, and how Villon is taking it somewhere else. He tips his hat to what came before, but he's also pushing painting forward. It's like he's saying, "We don't have to be literal, we can suggest and imply." And in that suggestion, there's room for something new to emerge. So keep looking, and let this painting spark your imagination!