Veules-les-Roses 1910

Samuel Peploe made *Veules-les-Roses* with thick strokes of oil paint, probably en plein air. I can feel the sun and smell the sea air just looking at it. It’s like he’s conjuring the scene, not copying it; the dabs and dashes of pure color somehow fuse together into the impression of a town in France. It's not just the place, but also the feeling of being there. I can imagine him squinting in the sun, trying to capture the way the light filters through the trees and bounces off the buildings. He would've had to work fast to get the shadows right. That stroke of blue, there, that makes up the shadows under the tree— so evocative! It reminds me of other painters like Matisse and Derain, who were also trying to find new ways of seeing the world through color. You can see how painters pick up on one another’s ideas across time, sparking something new. Each brushstroke is a little burst of energy, capturing a fleeting moment in time.