Korenveld 1872 - 1944

Frans Smissaert created "Korenveld", with watercolor, and what grabs me first is the way the sky seems to be breathing. Look at how Smissaert layers thin washes of blue, grey, and white, creating a real sense of depth and movement. It’s like he’s not just painting a sky, but capturing a feeling. And that feeling is so light, so airy, but also with this undertone of melancholy – that grey is doing some heavy lifting. The whole piece has this incredible lightness, and that’s all down to the way he handles the watercolor. It’s transparent, fluid, and so, so delicate. It reminds me a little of the work of some of the British watercolorists like Turner. There is a real conversation happening across time in the way painters have responded to the landscape with this medium. It’s always about trying to catch something so fleeting, and that’s a conversation I want to be part of.