Jardin sous la neige 1909

Maurice Denis made this painting, Jardin sous la neige, with oil on canvas. It's a garden scene glazed in snow, but it's the making of the image, the laying down of the paint, that I find most intriguing. The texture! It's built with such tangible strokes. Take the lower half of the painting; you can almost feel the weight of the snow. It's not just white, but a cocktail of whites, blues, and greens, dashed on with a loaded brush. I imagine Denis, in his studio, actively engaged in the push and pull of applying paint to canvas. There's a beautiful looseness and freedom in how he worked the surface. The pink of the trees in the background contrasts against the opaque white snow, creating a harmony within the landscape, it's like an abstract symphony with recognisable objects, rather than a representational painting. It reminds me of Bonnard, who also found beauty in the everyday. In the end, it's the way the painting invites us to look, to feel, and to dream that really matters.