Rainbow over Veere 1906

Theo van Rysselberghe made ‘Rainbow over Veere’ using tiny dots of paint to create a luminous atmosphere. Imagine him, back in the day, working en plein air, trying to capture that fleeting moment when the sun breaks through the clouds, and a rainbow magically appears. I wonder about his process. Did he start with the rainbow itself, or did he build up the landscape dot by dot, letting the image emerge slowly? The colours are amazing. Look at how he uses contrasting hues to create a shimmering effect. The surface is alive with texture. It feels like he's not just painting what he sees but also how he feels. Rysselberghe was part of a community of artists who were all trying to figure out how to depict light and colour in new ways. He's in conversation with Seurat, Signac, and many others. Each point of colour seems like a small act of faith, building up to something bigger. Painting is a way of thinking and feeling through colour, brushstroke, and form.