Le Bar Sur La Plage 1923 - 1925

Henri Lebasque painted "Le Bar Sur La Plage" with what looks like oil paint in an indistinct year. Lebasque is clearly interested in how we see, how light interacts with form to create these fleeting moments. There is something so light and airy about the image. Look at how the paint is applied – it’s not trying to hide its own materiality. See the short strokes and dabs of color building up the image, they create this sense of movement, like the scene is shimmering right before our eyes. The red pole really stands out as a structural element, creating an anchor for the more loose and airy shapes around it. Lebasque reminds me of someone like Bonnard, who similarly captures those intimate, personal moments with a kind of casual elegance, suggesting that the act of painting itself is a way of experiencing and understanding the world.