Paysage Près De Tonnerre 1905

Émile Bernard made this painting of the landscape near Tonnerre with oil on canvas. What strikes me here is the way he's used these short, choppy brushstrokes, it's like he's building up the image bit by bit. The palette is earthy, yet there's also this coolness, this grey that mutes the whole thing, kinda taking the zing out of it. Look at how the trees are placed, almost like they're staging the scene, pulling you into the town beyond. The paint itself seems pretty thin, which allows the canvas texture to peek through, giving it a rough, honest feel. There's this one spot, where the river meets the town, it's all smudged and blurred, it reminds you that painting is as much about wiping away as it is about adding. Bernard reminds me a little of Cezanne, with his interest in breaking down the landscape into geometric forms, but with a touch more sentimentality. It's a conversation, these paintings, always echoing and responding to one another.