Country Road, New Hampshire 1913

"Country Road, New Hampshire" is a watercolour by Maurice Prendergast, and it just sings with a quick, all-over approach. The colours are washy, translucent even, like the memory of a place instead of a picture of it. Which is how I like to think about painting, as a process of remembering. The paint is thin, applied in these loose dabs and strokes. Look at the way the road isn't really a road but a collection of yellows and browns, barely contained by the dark marks along its edges. And the houses! Blocks of colour, not quite fitting together, a bit wonky. It's less about getting it "right" and more about capturing a feeling. I love that kind of honest, clumsy, searching mark making, it's like the artist is working it out in front of you. Prendergast was clearly looking at Cézanne, but in his own way. It's like hearing a familiar melody played on a different instrument, and it reminds you that art is just one big conversation.