Houses in Montmartre 1931

George Bouzianis made this drawing of Houses in Montmartre, with coloured pencils, maybe on the spot. I can imagine him, with his paper and pencils trying to capture the moment, the light, the feeling of this place. There’s a real energy in these scribbled lines, a vibrant palette, the red, greens, blues, yellows and black dancing across the surface. See how the marks build up the forms of the houses and trees with such speed, capturing the essence of the scene without getting bogged down in detail. I wonder what it was like for Bouzianis working here. Did he stop for coffee? It reminds me of the work of other artists of the time, like Dufy, who were also exploring new ways of seeing and representing the world. Artists are always in conversation with each other, borrowing and building on ideas, and keeping the dialogue going. Painting offers us all a way to make sense of our surroundings, to capture the essence of a place or a moment in time.