Self portrait on a blue background 1909

Robert Falk captured himself in oil on canvas, surrounded by blues and whites. I can see him layering the paint, building up thin glazes to create depth and form. There's a real tenderness to the way he renders his own face; he is exploring his own psychology. He’s both the subject and the object, turning himself inside out, and there's a vulnerability to that. I can see a blue shape that looks like fabric or a coat hanging behind him. It's calling to other modernist painters like Matisse, or maybe even earlier to someone like Manet. Artists are always referencing each other, having these big conversations across time. Painting is that sort of embodied expression; always a bit ambiguous, never quite pinned down, and open to all sorts of readings.