In the Luxembourg gardens 1909

This painting of the Luxembourg gardens—no date given, by Rupert Bunny—seems to be made of light itself. I’m imagining Bunny, brush in hand, standing there trying to grab a moment of ordinary life. I’m thinking about how the light flickers on the figures: the woman in the blue dress holding the parasol, the little girl in white, the people reading or resting on benches. Bunny’s capturing how light defines and almost dissolves everything. The paint is like atmosphere itself, blurring the edges of things. I think he really saw the way light plays on form, dissolving the specificity of detail into something more felt than seen. I see echos of Manet and Whistler here, this interest in contemporary life and the painterly surface. It's all part of this ongoing painterly conversation.