Bathers, Woodland 1915

Ernest Lawson made "Bathers, Woodland," an oil on canvas, at an unknown date. It's a painting that feels very process oriented. I can imagine Lawson outside, wrestling with the wind, trying to capture the fleeting light. The surface has got so much texture. It's almost like he's building up the image with little dabs of paint, like tiny mosaics, to create the feeling of foliage. Look at the way he uses this technique to render the surface of the stream, each dab shimmering like sunlight on water. Lawson reminds me of Sisley, another painter interested in the challenge of capturing light and atmosphere. But where Sisley is all about refinement, Lawson is rougher, more immediate. For Lawson, it's like the act of painting itself is a way of understanding and experiencing the world. The painting embraces ambiguity, inviting us to linger, look, and ask questions.