Laivu piestātne 1930

Vilhelms Purvitis painted “Laivu piestātne” with an energy that really sings to me. Look how he's dabbed the paint, like he's trying to catch the light flickering on the water, on the roofs, even on those distant sails. You can almost feel him working, trying to pin down what he sees. The physicality of the paint is so important here. Thick in some places, especially in the foreground where he's built up these wonderful, textured strokes of brown, blue and purple. There's a kind of joy in the way he handles the brush. Take a look at the reflections in the water, see how he uses dashes of orange and red to suggest the light bouncing off the surface. It’s like he’s letting the paint itself do the talking. It makes me think of Monet. But Purvitis brings his own flavor, a touch of something wilder. It's like he's inviting us to not just look, but to feel the atmosphere of this place. For me, art is always a conversation and an invitation, a chance to see the world in a new way, and maybe, just maybe, to understand it a little better.