Břízy 1904

Josef Capek made 'Břízy' with oil paint, and everything about this piece speaks to process. There's something about the muted palette - various shades of grey, a hint of blue – that feels so meditative. It's not about capturing a scene perfectly; it's more about the act of seeing and feeling. The paint is applied with a kind of tenderness, yet the brushstrokes are visible, almost like whispers of the artist’s hand moving across the canvas. Take a look at the way he painted the trees, those ghostly birches in the foreground. They’re so delicate, almost like they’re breathing. The shadows they cast, are bold and direct, like memories or premonitions. Capek wasn't afraid to leave marks, to let the painting be a record of its making. This feels like a cousin to the early landscapes of the cubist painter, Georges Braque. Both were about stripping away the excess and getting down to the essence of form and feeling. And just like those paintings, this invites us to slow down, to really see what’s there, and to find our own meaning in the quiet spaces between the brushstrokes.