Sunset on the Sea 1908

Childe Hassam conjured this sunset on the sea with strokes of oil paint, capturing a fleeting moment. I can imagine him standing there, trying to capture the sunset, squinting to capture the scene, trying to get it all down before the light changed. Look at the sky—those clouds are like thick strokes of a brush, and the yellow is fighting with that dark blue! When you look closely, you can see how each brushstroke sits on the surface, how thick and tactile the paint is, but from a distance, they blend together. It's a constant dance of near and far, surface and image. Hassam probably looked to the work of Monet, and maybe even Turner. And now there's a whole history of painting after that. Painting is like a language that artists keep speaking, interpreting, and reinventing. It's less about answers and more about keeping the conversation going. Each brushstroke, each colour choice, is a little step in that dance.