Mirmande jaune 1956

André Lhote made this painting, Mirmande jaune, and it’s a riot of colour. I love the way Lhote puts down these big, bold shapes. It's like he's wrestling with the landscape, trying to pin it down, but also letting it breathe. You can almost feel him thinking about Cezanne, and the way he built up forms with planes of colour. I imagine Lhote thinking, "How can I make this scene my own?". It feels like a real push-and-pull between observation and invention. The yellow is so striking; it pulls you right in! And then you notice how the greens and oranges play off against it, creating this vibrant, almost dizzying effect. It's like he's not just painting what he sees but trying to capture the feeling of being in that place. It reminds me that artists are always riffing off each other, taking ideas and running with them in their own direction.