Sonnenaufgang Über Den Dächern 1903

Eugène Jansson painted "Sonnenaufgang Über Den Dächern," which translates to "Sunrise Over the Roofs", with oil on canvas, using these short, dab-like strokes that feel so tender and unassuming. Look at how he patiently built up the colour with these tiny marks. It’s this kind of quiet, repetitive action that gives the work its overall gentle energy, like a meditative mantra. The paint application is pretty thin, almost translucent in places, which makes the colours luminous, you can feel the light. The physical surface is relatively smooth; the texture comes from the layering of these tiny strokes, not from thick globs of paint. Check out the way the blues and whites mingle to describe the snow on the rooftops. There's this incredible sense of depth created by subtle shifts in colour and value. I see a kinship between Jansson’s approach and that of Vilhelm Hammershøi. Both artists evoke a quiet, contemplative mood through their focus on light and subtle colour variations, although Jansson is more overtly expressive. Art's not about fixed answers, it’s about opening up spaces for new ways of thinking and feeling.