Marrakech. View from the terrace at the Atlas Mountains 1928

Zinaida Serebriakova’s watercolour shows a panoramic view of Marrakech, probably made from a high terrace. The Atlas Mountains are in the background. She’s brushed light washes of mostly warm, earthy colors, ochres and browns, to capture the buildings. I imagine her on that terrace with her paints, gazing out, thinking about how to capture the light, the space, the overall feel of the place, and then getting to work. There's a real focus on the architecture – the way the buildings are structured, their flat roofs, the towers. It makes me think about structure and how we build up layers, whether it’s in a painting or a city. It’s not about detail, but about the broad strokes. There's an almost abstract quality to how the colors blend together, an openness. Serebriakova reminds me of other painters who travelled widely to capture landscapes and faraway places. They're all in conversation, exchanging ideas across time, and inspiring each other's creativity. Painting, after all, is a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, and allowing for multiple interpretations.