Duinlandschap bij storm met twee figuren 1872 - 1944

Frans Smissaert made this watercolor, Duinlandschap bij storm met twee figuren, in the late 19th or early 20th century. The sky looks alive, doesn't it? Like it's breathing. The way Smissaert layers the washes of blue and grey feels so intuitive, like he's letting the paint do its thing, and allowing for happy accidents to occur. You can imagine him outside, squinting into the light and dabbing with quick, wet strokes. Look at the top right of the horizon line, see how the color bleeds out of the figures? It's all about transparency here – nothing feels fixed, which helps the whole scene feel like its moving. The looseness and immediacy remind me of Turner's watercolors, those late works that dissolve into pure light and feeling. Except Smissaert keeps a tighter grip on representation, just enough to ground us in the world. But it's that tension between observation and abstraction that makes this little painting so exciting.