De Witte Hoeve 1930

Léon Spilliaert painted this view of a white farmstead with watercolour, gouache, and India ink on cardboard. Look at how the artist has handled the watercolour. You can see how the paint bleeds and blooms into the cardboard support. I can imagine him mixing his colours in the studio. It might have been interesting trying to capture the right shade of white for the buildings! White is never just white, right? Instead, it is a mixture of greys, blues, yellows, and greens. With that strange and eerie sky, the artist's vision almost feels like a dream. The painting has an affinity with the work of other artists such as Edward Hopper, both artists sharing an interest in depicting houses in an unsettling manner. Spilliaert offers us a certain feeling and a certain mood. And like all paintings, it opens up a conversation between the artist, the artwork, and the viewer.