Port de Bouc 1910

Augustus John’s painting, Port de Bouc, is composed of generous brushstrokes in a simple but lively palette of blues, greens, yellows, and browns. I can imagine him outside, squinting in the bright Mediterranean light, trying to capture this view. I like the way the brushstrokes are laid down with certainty. Notice the dashes of green on the mountainside, almost like a kind of coded language. I like the thought of Augustus John trying to find the right way to translate what he saw in front of him into paint. Was he satisfied with the finished painting? Did he feel he had captured the light and the atmosphere? Did he keep working on it? As a painter, I know that you are never really finished with a painting, but at some point, you have to let it go. Painters are in a constant conversation with one another, across time, inspiring and challenging each other. Each one builds upon what came before, while also trying to find their own unique voice. Each brushstroke is a record of a decision, a thought, a feeling.