Bij den Juwelier 1909

Martin Monnickendam's "Bij den Juwelier" is a watercolour painting with delicate washes of blue, brown, and the hazy glow of electric lights. I imagine him carefully building up the scene, one layer at a time, watching the colours bleed and blend. The people in the painting are all dressed in fine clothes and hats. It is a busy scene with lots of looking. The painting is like a stage set. What's going on here? Everyone is looking, but what are they thinking? I wonder, what was it like for Monnickendam to paint this scene? Did he stand there, trying to quickly capture the light and the expressions of the people before they moved on? Or did he conjure it from memory, allowing his imagination to fill in the details? Whatever the answer, I see a painter working with light, shadow, colour and gesture. It is a painting about looking and seeing and remembering.