Petit port, pecheurs et bateaux au quai 1906

Jean Metzinger made this painting of a small port with fishermen and boats at the quayside, using short brushstrokes and bright colours. Just imagine the artist standing at the harbour's edge, squinting in the sun, trying to capture the shimmering light on the water. I can feel the energy of the scene, how the artist is dabbing the paint onto the canvas. It looks like the painting came into being slowly, shifting and emerging through trial, error and intuition. Look how the brushstrokes create a textured surface, each one loaded with colour. The blues and greens of the water blend into the yellows and pinks of the sky, mirroring each other in loose rhythmic patterns. There is a sense of movement in the way that the colours and brushstrokes flicker and dance across the surface. Metzinger was part of a whole group of artists exploring new ways of seeing and depicting the world. They are all in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another's creativity, and reminding us that paintings can be more about feeling and less about simply recording what's in front of us.