Bouquet c. 1910

This is Paul Signac’s “Bouquet,” made with watercolor and ink, and you can tell Signac is feeling playful. He’s got a fine balance between the freedom of a sketch and something more formal. Check out the surface—the ink outlines give the work structure, but they’re loose and kind of wobbly. The watercolor is washy and translucent, sitting within the outlines but also bleeding beyond them in places. I love the way he captures light and shadow with such simple means. Then, there are the flowers themselves. It’s not like he’s trying to copy the real thing; he’s after the feeling of a bouquet, the riot of colors and shapes. Those irises with their purple fringes are amazing, and the calla lily stands proud in the middle, like a exclamation mark. It reminds me of the watercolors of someone like Marsden Hartley, who also used bright color and simple forms. Ultimately, this piece is all about gesture and feeling. It’s about the joy of making marks and letting the materials do their thing. And that’s something I can really get behind.