View on the Maas 

Editor: This is John Crome’s "View on the Maas," now at the Tate. The light feels so heavy, doesn’t it? Like those clouds are pregnant with rain. What pulls you in when you look at this? Curator: It's funny you say "pregnant," because that's what it feels like to me too – bursting with potential! Crome’s always playing with that delicate balance of light and shadow, isn't he? Like the sun's just kissed the water and turned it to liquid gold. Did you notice how he uses the brushstrokes almost like whispers, suggesting rather than defining? Editor: It's more atmospheric than precise, right? Almost dreamlike. Curator: Precisely. There's a yearning there, don't you feel? Like a memory you can almost grasp, but the edges are just out of reach. Editor: I do. It makes me want to sail away. Curator: Exactly! Art that makes us feel something, that’s the magic, isn't it?