The Painter Ernst Goldschmidt 1915

Harald Giersing made "The Painter Ernst Goldschmidt" with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is how he’s used these subdued greens and blacks, not to fade into the background, but almost like he’s feeling his way around the form. The material itself has a real presence here. It's not about making a slick surface, but about the paint—how it sits, how it catches the light. See that thick dab of greenish-yellow right on his forehead? It's like Giersing's trying to figure out what a forehead even *is*. That little spot embodies the whole thing: art as an act of searching, not just depicting. There’s an honesty, an awkwardness that reminds me of early Picasso, when he was still grappling with the world and how to translate it onto canvas. Both artists use painting to ask questions, not just to give answers. And that's what keeps me coming back.