Sanary, vue sur le Cap Sicié c. 1911

Henri Lebasque's landscape painting is awash with strokes of muted greens, reds and blues, as if the landscape was slowly coaxed into being. I imagine Lebasque standing before his easel, squinting at the scene, trying to capture the soft light and the way it filters through the trees. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze rustling the leaves. He’s simplifying the landscape down to its basic forms, a way of seeing that reminds me of Cézanne. Look at the way he’s rendered those figures in the foreground, almost blending into the earth. The paint feels thick and generous in some areas, especially in the foliage, giving it a tactile, almost sculptural quality. It makes me think about how so many painters are in conversation with one another. We’re all trying to make sense of the world through color and form and the way light dances across a surface. It's a constant exchange of ideas and inspiration.