Dark Sea and Red Sail 1909

John Duncan Fergusson’s ‘Dark Sea and Red Sail’ is a painting made with feeling, with the artist, standing, looking, trying to capture a moment. I can imagine Fergusson outside with his board, wrestling with the brush, trying to nail the way the water curls and foams. The waves seem to come alive through these big, gestural marks. The paint is applied so freely, it’s as if Fergusson is in a race against the changing light, or the movement of the sail. It’s like he’s saying, “I must get this down before it disappears!” There’s a certain bravado in the way he’s handled the paint, confident but also a bit raw, like someone trying to pin down something that’s always moving. I see echoes of other painters, those who try to capture the fugitive nature of light, like Monet. We’re all in conversation, right? Learning from each other, across time. Painting, after all, is an ongoing experiment, it's a way of seeing and feeling the world.