Pergola in the South West Park 1920

Henri Martin painted this South West park scene with what looks like myriad tiny brushstrokes. I imagine him, outdoors, squinting at the light, trying to capture the way it glances off the pergola and the surrounding foliage. It's like he's building the scene, point by point, dab by dab. There is the impression of texture, with layer upon layer of paint. The color palette is amazing, with a focus on light and shadow. He uses blues and greens, reds and purples, and somehow turns them into a harmonious whole. I think of Seurat and Signac and other pointillists. They were all trying to figure out how to make light dance on a canvas. There's an ongoing conversation between artists, a kind of call and response across time. We look, we react, we add our own little dabs of paint to the never-ending story of art.