Vigen ved En Vaux, Cassis 1911

Othon Friesz made this watercolor, “Vigen ved En Vaux, Cassis,” sometime in his life, probably on the spot, en plein air. It's all about capturing that light, right? Imagine Friesz, squinting at the Mediterranean sun, dabbing blues and greens onto the paper. You can almost feel the breeze in those washes of color. The paint is thin, translucent; it breathes. Look at those rocks, not quite solid, more like suggestions of form. It’s all sensation, like a fleeting moment. Friesz had been painting with the Fauves a few years earlier, and I bet that stuck with him, just letting the colors do the work. I like to think Friesz was in conversation with artists like Cézanne, who was trying to capture the essence of a place. And then there are painters today who look to artists like Friesz for inspiration. Painting’s just this ongoing, endless conversation. And it all keeps changing.