Dans le Midi 1910

Armand Guillaumin made this painting of the south of France using oil paint. Look at the way he has dabbed the colours in a mosaic-like pattern to create a harmonious landscape. I can almost feel what it was like for Guillaumin to stand there with his easel, squinting in the bright Mediterranean sunlight, trying to capture the shimmer of light on the water and the twisted shapes of the pine trees. The way he uses these little brushstrokes—it's like he's not just painting what he sees, but also the very sensation of seeing. The orange earth meets the sea. The blues are so intense and alive! It reminds me of how artists like Cézanne were also grappling with similar themes and techniques. There is something fundamentally human about trying to translate the world around us into these little patches of color. Painting is such a conversation across time. It's all about feeling your way through the dark. The way one brushstroke answers another.