The Small Boat 1927

Auguste Herbin made this painting, *The Small Boat*, with oil on canvas. Look at the way that Herbin applied these blocks of color—how the painting seems to have emerged and evolved over time. I wonder, what was it like for him, staring at this canvas? I can imagine him, brush in hand, thinking about how each shape sits next to the other, this blue square against that brown curve. The surface is smooth and the colors are flat. The painting is an arrangement of shapes, of course, but also a meditation on the relationship between colors. The colors don’t blend or mix; they remain separate and distinct. It reminds me of Léger, or even Ellsworth Kelly, except warmer, somehow. Painters are always talking to each other—Herbin is in conversation with other artists, both past and present. I imagine he had an impulse, a feeling, and was trying to find a visual language for it. Painting embraces that uncertainty and allows for multiple interpretations.