Boomtakken 1940

Léon Spilliaert made this painting of bare branches, called Boomtakken in his native Flemish, with watercolour or gouache, maybe. I like to imagine him outside, squinting at the scene, trying to get the colour of the sky just right. The paint is thin and translucent, brushed in layers to build up a dense atmosphere. He’s part of a longer tradition of painters trying to catch a feeling of a place. I imagine the artist repeating the gesture again and again, trying to find the right line to evoke the feeling of a branch reaching into the sky. Painters are always in conversation with one another, across time and space, inspiring each other. And, in the end, it’s not about the subject matter, but about how the painting makes you feel.