The Ponce Paper Factory on the Edge of the Sathe Woods 1918

Maxime Maufra painted this landscape, The Ponce Paper Factory on the Edge of the Sathe Woods, with oil paint. It’s a scene built up from lots of brush marks, a real all-over kind of painting. The blues, greens and browns, the way the paint clumps together, it’s all very physical, like Maufra's really digging into the scene. Check out the way the trees are painted, these furious strokes that somehow give way to a suggestion of branches and leaves! The painting’s surface is buzzing with energy. All this texture and movement helps me to imagine what it’s like to be there. Looking at this piece, I’m reminded of artists like the Impressionist Alfred Sisley, who was similarly interested in the way that light plays across a scene. But Maufra has something wilder and more expressionistic going on. It's a great example of how artists can take inspiration from each other, and yet find their own unique path.