Laggan Farm Buildings near Dalbeattie 1916

Samuel Peploe painted Laggan Farm Buildings near Dalbeattie with thick strokes of blue and green that clash and combine. I can imagine the painting coming into being outside, en plein air, as the French say. I sympathize with him here, trying to pin down those greens and blues as the light changes. It’s as if the landscape is about to take off. The painting itself becomes a kind of container for the memory of the place. Look at the way he modeled those haystacks, that single dab of violet shadow – that’s the kind of observation you make when you are standing in front of something. It’s a sensation, a reaction. I like to think about Peploe looking at the work of artists like Cezanne, wrestling with similar questions of light, color, and form. Artists are in constant conversation across time and space. The conversation continues as we look at the work now, adding our thoughts to the mix.