Sea 1962

Tove Jansson made this painting of the sea with what looks like very thick oil paint, laid on with decisive strokes of a brush. The colours are dark, blues and greens mostly, with flashes of white where the waves break. You know, I can almost feel what it was like for her making this. You can see how the artist has built up the surface, layering stroke upon stroke to capture the feeling of the sea, its depth, its constant motion. The paint is luscious, thick in places, creating a real sense of texture. Look at the way the white paint is daubed on, catching the light, mimicking the foamy crests of the waves. Doesn’t it remind you of other painters who were obsessed with the sea? Maybe Turner or Courbet? Artists are always having this conversation across time, picking up where others left off, pushing things further. Painting’s like that, an ongoing experiment, always searching, never quite finding, but always creating something new in the process.