Sailing Ship with Dinghy 1908

Egon Schiele made this painting of a Sailing Ship with Dinghy, we’re not sure exactly when, and he worked with oil on wood. The marks are fast and loose, and it’s all about the dark tones. It's as if Schiele is trying to capture the feeling of the boat rather than its precise appearance, like he's painting what it *feels* like to be a boat. Check out the way the paint's all scumbled and scrubbed on, especially in the hull of the ship. You can almost feel the roughness of the wood, the saltiness of the sea. The colors are muted – browns, blues, and grays – but they're layered in a way that gives the painting a real depth. I love the reflection of the boat in the water, how it breaks up into these abstract shapes. It reminds me a little of Courbet, the way he used to paint the sea. Ultimately, this painting feels like a snapshot of a moment, a fleeting glimpse of a boat on the water. And isn't that what painting's all about?