Ninth Bucolic: Mantua 1955

Jacques Villon made "Ninth Bucolic: Mantua" using pencil and watercolor with a process led approach to mark making. You can see that the pencil comes first to sketch the image before applying the wash. I love the way the watercolor bleeds into the paper here. The wash isn't trying to be too figurative. It is more about applying the color to get a sense of light and mood. The green in the foreground feels so watery, maybe because of the horizontal lines of the brush marks. It's interesting to compare this work with his later abstract paintings, and see the line and color separating out. It feels like the start of something new. His work reminds me of another artist I love, Joan Mitchell. Both artists use color to create very ambiguous, hard-to-define spaces. What is in the foreground, and what is in the background? I love art that keeps you guessing.