Am Kurfürstendamm 1910

Lesser Ury captured this rainy Berlin street with oil on canvas, and it's like stepping into a memory, isn’t it? Ury’s mark-making is all about process; you can see where he’s dragged the brush, leaving these lovely trails and puddles of grey and brown. I find that if you look closely, there’s so much going on with the surface of this painting. See the way the light catches the wet street, those subtle shimmers and reflections? The physicality of the paint really creates this feeling of dampness and movement. The artist has created the most amazing reflections on the street. The colour palette is muted, but that makes the occasional brighter tone, like in the woman’s coat, pop even more. Looking at Ury’s work, I can’t help but think of Whistler and his atmospheric cityscapes. It's all part of this ongoing conversation about how we see and represent the world around us. There's a certain ambiguity here, an openness that invites us to bring our own experiences to the viewing.