The Banks of the Seine 1887

Vincent van Gogh painted 'The Banks of the Seine' using oil on canvas. The eye is immediately drawn to the water itself, a rippling expanse rendered with thick, horizontal brushstrokes that mirror the flow of the river. These strokes, heavy with pigment, create a tactile surface, as the reflections capture the light and colour of the sky and riverbank. The composition is divided into horizontal bands of water, shore, and sky, creating a structured yet dynamic landscape. Van Gogh’s use of impasto becomes a language in itself. Each dab and stroke is a signifier, contributing to a semiotic system where the materiality of the paint communicates as much as the scene it depicts. There's a sense of challenging traditional representation, pushing beyond mere imitation to explore how paint itself can convey emotional and sensory experiences. Ultimately, it invites us to consider how the formal qualities of art can destabilize conventional ways of seeing. Rather than presenting a fixed reality, it suggests that perception is always in flux, shaped by the artist's hand and the viewer's gaze.