Czóbel Béla Still Life 1910 1910

Béla Czóbel built this still life in 1910 with oil paint, I imagine in his studio in Paris. The painting is a symphony of energetic brushstrokes and bold colors, like a Fauvist tune. The paint application is juicy and thick, almost sculptural in places, as though Czóbel was wrestling with the very stuff of perception. I’m thinking of the way the window dissolves into an abstract field of green, yellow, and white. It is as though the distinction between inside and outside, object and background, is breaking down. There's a real sense of spontaneity here, a willingness to let the painting evolve through the act of doing. It reminds me of Matisse in its freedom but also anticipates later expressionist impulses, too. He’s not just depicting objects, he's trying to capture a feeling, an atmosphere. It’s like he’s saying, “Here, feel this moment with me, see the world anew.”