Bateaux Sur La Meuse À Rotterdam 1909

Maximilien Luce painted Bateaux Sur La Meuse À Rotterdam with small brushstrokes of blues, greens, yellows, and purples. I can only imagine the painting coming into being through trial, error, and intuition! I feel for Luce, I wonder if he was searching for a way to capture the light shimmering on the water and the sky? I can imagine him stepping back, squinting, maybe mumbling to himself, and then making another mark. The paint looks kind of thick, not too gloopy, but you can see how each stroke sits on the canvas. I love how a particular dab of green and blue creates the feeling of a boat’s reflection, it’s like he’s thinking and feeling through the paint itself! Luce was part of the Neo-Impressionist movement, and you can see how he’s playing with colour and light like Seurat or Signac. But he brings his own sensibility. It reminds me that artists are in this ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time. Painting allows for many feelings and meanings!