Ved Fyns Hoved 1902

Fritz Syberg created Ved Fyns Hoved with watercolour, and the colour palette here is just so restful. Look at the way the thin washes of colour bleed into each other, it reminds you that painting is as much about letting go as it is about control. The surface of the paper is so smooth, it really lets the watercolour do its thing. The brushstrokes in the water are horizontal and almost look like delicate scratches. The land is created with soft greys and blues, a kind of hazy, dreamy vision. It's like Syberg is not just showing us a place, but also a feeling, a memory of a place. That little splash of red in the building on the headland, it’s just enough to catch the eye and pull you into the scene. In some ways this reminds me of Whistler, he was always trying to paint mood as much as a picture. With painting, it’s never really about the thing itself, but how we look at it.