The Pilot's Jetty, Le Havre High Tide, Afternoon Sun 1903

Camille Pissarro painted "The Pilot's Jetty, Le Havre High Tide, Afternoon Sun," with oil on canvas. It's all about the process here, isn't it? Look at those marks; they're not trying to hide anything. This isn't about illusionism, but about the joy of applying paint to a surface, the pure materiality of the stuff! I’m drawn to the crusty, built-up texture, especially the way the sky is rendered. It looks like Pissarro was using a small brush, or maybe even the edge of a palette knife, to dab and stipple the paint. See how the blues and whites are mixed right there on the canvas? This makes the clouds feel like they're shimmering, constantly shifting in the light. It reminds me a bit of Sisley, but Pissarro is earthier somehow, more grounded in the everyday. These painters remind us that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists, ideas, and ways of seeing. And that ambiguity? That's where the magic happens!