Martigues 

Raoul Dufy painted this view of Martigues, France with oil on canvas. Dufy, who came of age during the height of Impressionism, painted en plein air, capturing the immediacy of light and atmosphere. But I wonder, who are the people who inhabit this landscape, and what are their stories? Martigues is not merely a visual subject; it's a place where lives intersect and histories unfold. The architecture and waterways are silent witnesses to countless human experiences, each with their own narratives of gender, race, and class. Dufy once said "What I want to show is the relationship of forms and colors". Yet, by emphasizing the formal elements, does the painting risk obscuring the complex social dynamics at play? "Martigues" invites us to consider the intersection of aesthetics and lived experience, prompting us to reflect on whose stories are told and whose remain unseen.