Lilacs and Mountains 1920

Maurice Braun’s “Lilacs and Mountains” is rendered in subdued tones, somewhere in the space between gray and brown. It's a landscape, but the landscape is a feeling. Imagine Braun with his easel, trying to catch the light as it shifts across the water. The texture is smooth, the brushstrokes subtle, which makes me think he worked wet-on-wet, blending the colors right on the canvas to capture that misty atmosphere. I get a sense of him squinting, trying to reduce the scene to its essential forms. It’s like he’s asking, "What is the bare minimum I need to suggest the enormity of this view?" The overall impression reminds me of Whistler—that same interest in tonal painting and the poetry of everyday scenes. Artists are always in conversation, picking up on each other's ideas and pushing them in new directions. It’s about a feeling, a mood, more than any literal representation. That's what makes painting so alive.