Cows homeward bound in the evening 1904

Theodor Philipsen painted these cows heading home in the evening, and he really went to town with the brushstrokes. You can see how he built up the painting layer by layer. It’s all about texture, isn't it? The paint’s not too thick, but definitely not thin. You can almost feel the roughness of the cows' hides, and the way the light catches on the water. And that lone tree on the right, it's practically vibrating with energy. Look how he used all these greens and browns, not mixed perfectly, but put together to make this almost luminous dark. And the sky! It's like he just dragged the paint across the canvas. The way the colours blend together, it feels like a memory of a sunset. Philipsen reminds me a bit of the Impressionists, like Pissarro, you know, but with his own twist. He's not just showing us what he sees, but how he feels, and I think that's something we can all relate to.