"Water Mill" by Corey Johnson

           During my visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art there was one painting that in particular caught my eye and desire to look into more.  The painting was titled “Water mill” by Frits Thaulow, and was painted from 1847 – 1906.  The scene depicts an early 19^th century water mill from across the waterway.  The painting is beautifully done with careful tight brushstrokes near the surrounding buildings and mill in order to show the current of the water.  As I gazed into the painting, I could see that Thaulow loosened his brush strokes the further he painted them away from the foreground.  This helps give the viewer a better understanding of how the tide of the water was flowing and make the painting look realistic.  Thaulow uses a combination of blues, greens, and whites to vary the waterscape of the painting.  While carefully showing the movement of the water, Thaulow also considers the reflection of the sky in the water as well.  Keeping dark teals, blues, and greens, up close in order to show the shadow from the buildings.  Then loosening up the colors quickly where the sun is shining into the waterway.  One can make out a clear indication of where the sun is hitting the water and the path it takes as it leads your eyes across the water towards the mill. 

            After studying some other works by Thaulow it seems as if he has interests with realistic painting, while incorporating impressionism through his brush strokes, to loosen the flow of the water and other aspects in his paintings.  Thaulow is from Norway and is characterized as an Impressionist painter with the ability to create natural depictions of landscape.  This particular painting was done with oil on canvas and was most likely painted somewhere in France.  Thaulow moved to France in 1892 after becoming bored with the landscapes Paris had to offer. 

            This particular painting caught my attention enough to further look into it, not once but three times.  I just had to keep coming back to it.  No matter how or where I observed the painting it worked.  From a distance it looks like a photograph except for the buildings in the background.   Up close it still looks real, despite the individual brush strokes that one can see.  Personally I think I enjoyed this painting because of my fascination with water and waterscapes.  Water is so beautiful to look at in nature, especially with the sun and sky’s reflections showing on the surface of it.  Thaulow captures that and more in his paintings and has become one of my new favorite painters to observe.             

            All in all, the trip to Philadelphia was a great success.  It was a long and tiresome day, but very beneficial.  I enjoyed the whole trip and wish we had more time to do other trips like this one.