Chateau Espagnol, near Brussels

This fluidly painted watercolor presents a country estate sitting amid a protective clump of trees as the afternoon sun casts angled shadows beneath the sloping rooftops. These repeated triangles, also seen in the shadows of the building and among the outlying structures, reveal the artist’s interest in shape and pattern. The measured rhythm they create is enlivened by the delicate brush-point details of the grass and the spontaneity of the figures, formed with only a simple stroke or two to suggest both shape and volume. In addition to the loose brushwork, Boys has pressed his own fingers into the pigment to create texture, as seen in the branches of the gangly tree at left (2022).