The Pines of the Ile St. Morah 1912

Maxime Maufra's "The Pines of the Ile St. Morah" is alive with strokes of greens and blues, conjuring up a windy day by the sea. I can almost feel the breeze! You know, when I look at this, I imagine Maufra, out there with his easel, wrestling with the wind and light. I feel like he’s really trying to capture not just the look of the trees, but their energy, how they bend and sway. Check out how he builds up the surface with dabs of paint, mixing colors right on the canvas. There's this one pine in the foreground, tilting towards us. The way he paints it, with those short, choppy strokes, it's like the tree is talking, whispering secrets of the island. I wonder if Maufra was influenced by the Impressionists like Monet and Pissarro, who were also trying to capture the fleeting moments of light and atmosphere. It makes you realize that painting is about so much more than just representation. It's about feeling, about being present in a particular time and place.