Woods by the Oise River 1919

This is a landscape scene, Woods by the Oise River, by Gustave Loiseau. It’s a painting made with oil on canvas, and like a lot of paintings I love, you can really feel the process in it. Look at how the paint has been applied, those short, broken strokes that build up to create the forms of the trees, water, and sky. It’s all about layering and letting the colours mix in your eye. There is a passage of colour near the bottom right, a really concentrated collection of brushstrokes that are mostly ochre, raw umber and burnt sienna. This gives it a kind of density and weight, as if Loiseau were trying to evoke the damp, earthy smell of the woods. You can also make out the direction in which the paint has been applied, Loiseau’s gestures, and the sense of movement he’s trying to capture. He reminds me a little bit of Camille Pissarro, another artist who was really interested in capturing the light and atmosphere of the French countryside. Ultimately, art is a conversation, and Loiseau brings his own voice to the exchange.