Segovia c. 1916

Ernest Lawson made this painting, Segovia, with oil on canvas, but sometime before or after we don't know! Look closely and you’ll notice the whole scene is made up of these confident, chunky strokes. I love how Lawson builds up the textures – you can almost feel the roughness of the landscape and the solidity of the architecture. Those cool blues and greens in the foreground contrast against the warmer, creamy hues of the sky, and it creates this sense of depth. My eye keeps getting drawn to that dark, craggy bit on the right, it’s like a little abstract painting within the painting, you know? Lawson was part of The Eight, and he was known for his impressionistic landscapes. But when I look at this I can’t help but think of the old masters, like Constable, how they managed to catch the poetry of a place. What I like about this painting is that it doesn’t try to give you all the answers; it leaves room for you to wander around and make your own sense of it.