The Seine c. 1902

Henry Ossawa Tanner made this painting of The Seine with oil on canvas. Look at the brushwork, those horizontal strokes, and the way he's built up the surface with thin layers of peachy pinks. I can imagine Tanner standing on the banks of the river, trying to capture that fleeting moment when the light softens, and everything seems to glow, wouldn’t that be wonderful! He was probably thinking about how to translate the way the water catches the light onto the canvas. The paint is thin, fluid, almost like watercolor, and you can see how each stroke contributes to the overall effect. Notice how the silhouettes of the buildings and the bridge in the background almost dissolve into the sky? It reminds me of some of Whistler's nocturnes. Artists are always in conversation with each other, you know, and I can imagine Tanner looking at Whistler's work and thinking, "I want to capture that same sense of atmosphere." Painting is like a language, it’s all about expressing something that can't be put into words.