Fish, Flowers and Fruits 1991

Samuel Buri made this watercolor painting called ‘Fish, Flowers and Fruits’. The composition of the painting feels immediate, like he wanted to record a brief moment in time. The fish are stacked, gleaming, maybe fresh from a morning catch? There's a directness here – Buri is using his materials to capture the fleeting beauty of everyday life. The flowers are punchy and purple, the lemons are waxy and yellow. You can see the looseness in Buri’s brushstrokes, the way the watercolor bleeds, it’s as though he has allowed the medium to have its own say, embracing accident and chance. Each mark feels like an opportunity, a building up of impressions. Buri clearly has an appreciation of Bonnard and Matisse, but the color palette is his own. Ultimately, the painting is about the magic that happens when you put paint to paper, and let it do its thing. It's like the paint has its own personality, which I admire.