The white gum 1923

Here's a watercolour painting by Hans Heysen, and it's all about light and space. I can imagine Heysen outside, squinting in the sun, trying to catch the way the light hits those gum trees. Look how the wash of blues and browns create such a sense of depth. It's as though you can feel the air moving between the trunks. The way the light seems to be moving through the branches reminds me of Cezanne. I like how Heysen left parts of the paper untouched. Those blank spaces almost feel like breathing room, giving the eye a place to rest. And that bold stroke of brown at the bottom? It anchors the whole scene, like a grounding force. You get the impression that Heysen was not only trying to show us a place, but trying to capture the feeling of being in that place. It is this, I think, that connects Heysen to generations of landscape painters.