Lake Garda 1912

Koloman Moser made this painting, Lake Garda, with oil on canvas. Look at the way Moser applied the paint. It’s like he’s dabbing little squares of color, almost like a mosaic, to conjure up the shimmer of light on the water. There’s a stillness in the air, a quiet hum of color, that makes you feel like you’re right there on the lake, watching the mountains change color as the sun moves across the sky. I can almost feel Moser standing there, squinting at the scene, mixing his colors, trying to capture the light just so. Maybe he was thinking about Cezanne? Or maybe he was just lost in the beauty of the moment, trying to translate what he saw onto the canvas. I imagine him trying to do what all painters do, which is wrestle with the world in order to find a way to put it on a flat surface. Painters have been doing this for centuries, you know, talking to each other across time. Each one building on what came before, trying to make sense of the world in their own way.