Twee Boom Silhouetten achter een Waterloop 1900 - 1902

Piet Mondrian made this oil painting, Twee Boom Silhouetten achter een Waterloop, which translates as Two Tree Silhouettes Behind a Waterway, with brushes and paint. It's a lovely example of his early landscape work. Look at the way he builds up the image in layers, how the brushstrokes almost feel like separate thoughts laid down one after another. The paint has a certain thickness, especially in the reflection on the water. See those little dabs of green and blue, almost like he's trying to capture the light shimmering on the surface. It makes me think about how painting is really about the act of seeing, translating a fleeting moment into something solid and lasting. You can see echoes of Van Gogh in the way he approaches the landscape, that expressive use of paint, yet it also hints at where Mondrian was heading, towards a more abstract and essential way of seeing.