Play in a village 1920

Tadeusz Makowski seems to have made this painting of a village in motion with oil paint that's been put down wetly and quickly. There are a lot of tans and browns, a kind of earthy palette, which makes me think about the act of painting as a process of building, a sort of construction. If you look closely, you can see how the paint is applied in visible strokes, particularly around the figures dancing in the center. There’s this incredible energy in the circular pattern of their dance that's echoed in the brushwork itself. It's almost as if the paint is dancing along with them. The thick texture of the paint gives the scene a tactile quality, like you could reach out and feel the rough surface of the village square. I’m reminded of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, but Makowski’s take feels more intimate, less monumental. It’s a painting that invites you to join the dance, to get lost in the rhythm and joy of the moment, without ever really pinning down what that moment is supposed to mean.