Education 1912

Rik Wouters made this painting of a domestic scene, probably with oil on canvas, and it's really about how he sees the world through color. The ochre table and the blue vase jolt you – this isn't about rendering a scene, it's a record of how he, the artist, experiences this moment. The paint is applied in these confident strokes, creating a sort of shimmering surface, so you can almost feel the energy in his wrist as he’s dabbing the paint down. Look how the paint is thin in some areas and thick in others, the way the red of the mother’s dress bleeds into the ochre of the table, like he’s scrubbing the colors into the weave of the canvas. It reminds me of Bonnard's interiors. You can feel Wouters's love for color and the everyday, but he brings it all together in a way that's uniquely his own.