Haycocks 1916

Janos Mattis-Teutsch created "Haycocks" with watercolour, and you can see how the colours bleed and flow, embracing the medium's fluidity as part of the process. The material aspects here are so upfront: the texture of the paper, the translucent washes, and the way colours interact, creating this dreamy, pastoral scene. I love how the pinks and greens in the background create a rhythmic pattern, echoing the shapes of the haycocks. The strokes are visible, and loose, giving the whole piece a sense of immediacy. There's this little, almost accidental, touch of green around the base of each haycock that really makes them pop. It's like he's playing with how little information you need to suggest depth and form. Mattis-Teutsch later moved towards a more abstract style, but this piece reminds us that even in representation, there's room for experimentation and playful mark-making. It makes me think of Marsden Hartley’s landscapes, with their similar sense of bold colour and simplified forms. Art is a conversation, isn’t it? Always building on what came before.