The Bay of Marseille, Seen from L’Estaque

What you see

The picture falls into three bands. Below are houses with orange roofs and a few tall chimneys; on the left, a tongue of ochre and green land juts into the water. In the middle spreads the bay, a broad expanse of deep blue. Above, a range of gray and violet mountains closes the horizon beneath a pale sky.

The oranges of the roofs contrast with the blue of the water, and the greens of the trees bridge the two. The houses are made of simple planes, almost like blocks. Don’t miss the white smoke rising from a chimney on the right, and for the thin strip crossing the water near the far shore, like a jetty.