Square Berlioz (La Place Vintimille) 1915

Édouard Vuillard conjured "Square Berlioz (La Place Vintimille)" with oil on cardboard, and right away, I’m pulled into this quiet, somewhat hidden park scene. I can just imagine Vuillard, maybe with his coat collar turned up against the Parisian chill, layering these strokes, one over the other, a symphony of greens, browns, and muted yellows. What was he thinking, standing there? I bet he loved the challenge of capturing the way light filters through leaves, dappling the ground. See how he builds up the texture, thick in some spots, thin in others, so the whole thing has this almost vibrating quality? Then there’s the curve of that path, and the figures on the bench, just a few dabs of color, but they give you everything you need. Painters, we’re all in conversation, borrowing, stealing, riffing off each other. This feels like a dance with Bonnard, maybe a little Degas peeking in there too. And each of us trying to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time, so we leave room for ambiguity, a space for ourselves in this world.