The bridge at the mill 1908

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin captured a waterside scene in paint with touches of blue, green, and brown. I can almost feel the artist outside, by the water. They would've mixed those colors on a palette, loaded up their brush, and dabbed it onto the canvas. It probably involved a lot of squinting to capture the light just right. I love how the artist uses light to create depth and shadow, making the wooden architecture almost jump out at you. The loose brushstrokes give the painting a sense of immediacy and energy. It's like the artist was trying to capture a fleeting moment in time. That one stroke of dark green in the trees tells you everything you need to know about how the artist saw the world. The bridge at the mill might remind you of other artists who were similarly interested in capturing the beauty of everyday life. Painters are always picking up on each other’s cues, sharing notes across generations. Paintings like this one invite us to slow down, to question how we see, and to find new beauty in the world around us.