Landscape, Lake Geneva 1915

Alexej von Jawlensky captured this landscape of Lake Geneva with luscious color and bold strokes. I imagine him standing there, maybe a bit frustrated by the light, trying to nail down what he saw, not exactly, but a feeling of it. You know, when you look at the pinks and blues here, they aren't trying to be real, they’re about exaggerating what’s already there. I love the drag of the brushstrokes, how the paint sits on the canvas, thick and juicy. That horizon line in dark blue, it’s not just a boundary, but a real, weighty presence. Jawlensky was part of this incredible moment in painting, when artists like Matisse and Kandinsky were pushing color and form to express something deeper. It’s like they were all in conversation, egging each other on, through their paintings, to see how far they could go. Each painting is a kind of question, really, and each artist answers in their own way, keeping the dialogue alive across time.