Fuji from the Canal, Iwabuchi 1901

Lilla Cabot Perry painted ‘Fuji from the Canal, Iwabuchi’ with oil on canvas, and the way she worked with her materials is something to behold. You can almost feel the breeze rustling through the reeds. Up close, you see how Perry builds up the landscape with these short, deliberate strokes. The paint isn't trying to hide; it's right there on the surface, chunky and alive. Look at the way she renders the mountain—it’s not just a static form, but a shifting, breathing presence, full of purples and creams. For me, the little skiff, just set adrift on the canal, is the key to the whole painting. There's something so unassuming and vulnerable about it. Perry spent time with Monet, and his influence is clear, but she brings her own sensibility to the canvas. It’s less about a direct record of a place and more about how memory and feeling shape what we see.