Brücke über den Landwehrkanal 1920

Lesser Ury captured this view of the Landwehr Canal with what looks like pastel, and a whole lotta feeling. I can imagine him there, you know, standing on the bank, rapidly laying down those strokes. How the immediacy of pastel lends itself to capturing a fleeting moment. I imagine Ury being drawn to the light filtering through the trees, the reflections dancing on the water. He’s not after precision but wants to give us the mood of the place. The way he’s layered those blues and greens, mixing them with strokes of yellow, it gives everything this luminous quality. It’s like he’s trying to bottle the light itself. And then there’s that bridge, a hazy presence in the distance, almost like a dream. I can feel a connection with painters like Whistler, who were also chasing after atmosphere. You can sense that painters are in conversation, you know?