The Stour at Stratford St Mary, Colchester 1934

Lucien Pissarro, son of Camille, painted this waterside scene in the style of French Impressionism. Look at the way Pissarro uses these tiny little brushstrokes, like individual dabs, of different colors. You can really see how the painting is built up, layer by layer. Up close, each stroke might seem insignificant, but together they create a shimmering, vibrant surface. It's like he’s thinking about colour theory and how it all comes together in our perception. Notice the way the buildings are mirrored in the river. See how the blue of the sky is also in the water? It's as if Pissarro wants to show us how everything is connected. The way the marks are laid down feels intuitive and almost playful, which makes me think of how artists like Bonnard and Vuillard also approached landscape painting, dissolving solid forms into fields of pure colour. Art's just an ongoing conversation, isn't it? It is less about fixed meanings and more about seeing and feeling.