Porte de France Tunis 1910

Walter Crane’s watercolor, ‘Porte de France Tunis’ captures a bustling North African street scene. Look at the way Crane uses such a limited palette, mostly earth tones, and yet it feels so rich! You can almost smell the dust and spices. Watercolor is so unforgiving, right? There's no going back, no layering like you can with oils. Here, he lets the whiteness of the paper do a lot of the work, especially in the figures, giving them an airy, sun-drenched quality. Notice that dark doorway on the left, and the way the light catches the archway of the gate itself – a lovely contrast. The details are minimal, almost like he’s trying to capture a fleeting impression rather than a photographic likeness. It reminds me of some of John Singer Sargent’s travel sketches, that same sense of immediacy. With ‘Porte de France Tunis’ Crane isn't trying to give us all the answers, it's more of an invitation to wander and wonder with him.