Panorama of Cassis 1904

Maurice Denis made this painting, Panorama of Cassis, with oil on cardboard. Oh, I like this. I can imagine Maurice Denis painting this view with a kind of tender reverence. He’s using a high vantage point, where you can see everything all at once. What I notice most is this vibrant, almost vibrating quality in the way he renders light and shadow, especially the dappled sunlight on the distant field. It makes me think about Bonnard, how he mixed colors right on the canvas to capture fleeting moments. I bet Denis was outside painting en plein air, trying to capture the essence of that moment. See how the brushstrokes are small, almost like mosaic tiles, building up the form and texture gradually. The dark greens of the trees against the lighter hues of the landscape create depth and contrast. He probably had to work fast before the light changed. Artists are always looking, always borrowing and transforming what they see into something new. Painting is like an ongoing conversation between artists, a way of seeing and feeling that’s always evolving.