Embankments of the Seine in Paris 1907

Albert Marquet made this painting, "Embankments of the Seine in Paris," with oil on canvas. Just look at the way Marquet approached this work, building up a scene through layers of broken colour and tone. It’s not about getting it ‘right’ first time, but about an ongoing dialogue between artist and canvas. I love the material aspect of this piece, where the river meets the buildings, see how the green almost bleeds into the white? There’s a sense of atmosphere, of the dampness rising from the Seine. The marks aren’t precise, but they evoke something real. The colour palette is very muted, yet somehow vibrant, suggesting a hot summer day. It reminds me of the late paintings of Monet, or maybe even Whistler, and how they too understood the importance of suggestion and atmosphere over detail. For me, art is always a conversation, with artists speaking to each other across time, finding new ways to see and feel the world.