Vue Generale De Labastide-Du-Vert Du Haut Du Parc De Marquayrol c. 1905

Henri Martin painted this view of Labastide-du-Vert from the heights of the Parc de Marquayrol, with oil on canvas. Look at how he's built the image from small touches of color, a mosaic of marks. It's like he's trying to catch not just the place, but the feeling of light moving through it, the air itself. Up close, you can see each dab of paint, each little decision. The way he layers blues and greens in the fields, or how the orange and brown in the trees suggests the warmth of the sun. He wasn’t just copying what he saw. He was interpreting it, making it his own. Notice how the path leads your eye into the village, and then upwards towards the horizon. There's something about the way the colors vibrate against each other that reminds me of Signac, but Martin brings a certain tenderness, a softness to the landscape. It's a place you want to be in.