Landscape of a waterway 1908

Editor: This is "Landscape of a Waterway," painted in 1908 by Auguste Herbin. It’s an oil painting that, for me, feels like a joyous explosion of colour, though with a somewhat unsettling geometrical feel to it all. It's clearly a landscape, but it's almost been translated into code, or a stained-glass window. What jumps out at you when you look at this piece? Curator: Ah, yes! It's as if Herbin bottled a sunny afternoon and let it ferment. What emerges isn’t literal nature, but the potent essence of it – the dizzying contrast of shadows and light. It looks like it might reflect his engagement with early Fauvism. I sense Herbin letting go of rigid representation. Are you picking up the slight tension, though? Like nature viewed through the lens of Cubism still gestating? Editor: Definitely the geometry! The blocks of colour give it that structured, almost architectural feel. Is that unusual for landscapes of this period? Curator: Well, landscape painting at the time was often more about capturing fleeting moments, think Impressionism. Here, though, Herbin seems to be grappling with the underlying *structure* of the natural world, rather than just its surface appearance. He isn’t merely reflecting nature, he is reinventing it on his own terms! How does it sit with you now? Editor: I like that. It's more than just pretty scenery; it's a thoughtful interpretation. I didn't know it was flirting with Cubism, but the perspective definitely adds depth to how I look at the whole composition. It’s like, beyond the colour, there is almost a code of nature that he's hinting at. Curator: Precisely! Perhaps, in that little landscape, we catch a glimpse of what Nature *means* to him, and potentially to us! I certainly leave this landscape feeling enriched.