Nocturne 1901

Eugène Jansson created this painting of the sea, called Nocturne, with oil on canvas. It’s all about seeing how much you can do with just one color, or, okay, many shades of one color: blue. The brushstrokes are short, dabbed, and layered, giving the whole painting a sort of shimmering, vibrating quality. Up close, the surface is a constellation of marks. These marks reminded me of Van Gogh. But step back, and they coalesce into waves, sky, and the faintest hint of city lights on the horizon. Look at the way Jansson builds up the paint in the crests of the waves, making them almost glow against the darker blues beneath. There’s a real push and pull between abstraction and representation here. Jansson’s painting reminds us that seeing is an active process, a constant negotiation between what’s out there and what we bring to it. Art is more of an active conversation.