Thunersee mit Stockhornkette 1924

Cuno Amiet painted this landscape, "Thunersee mit Stockhornkette," with soft brushstrokes and a cool, muted palette of blues, creams and browns. It's as if the scene was distilled through memory. Imagine Amiet standing before the lake, squinting in the sun, trying to capture the way light shimmers on the water. You can see that searching in the brushstrokes themselves. The paint is applied thinly, almost like watercolor. It's not about building up texture, but about capturing the essence of the scene. There’s a little zig-zag stroke—look low down—it could be water or reflection, but it also communicates the feeling of a fresh breeze on the lake. I can almost feel it. Amiet, like other painters, such as the Nabis, who were working around the turn of the century, was interested in simplifying forms and flattening space. The mountain range is a backdrop, and the sailboat feels like a shape cut from paper. Painters are in an ongoing conversation, looking at each other's work, responding, and reinterpreting. "Thunersee mit Stockhornkette" is like a visual poem, where the brushstrokes are like words, evoking a sense of place and feeling.