Study of a woman in a black and white cap 1921

Tadeusz Makowski painted this Study of a Woman in a Black and White Cap, and look at how he just went for it. It’s all about the materiality here, the way the oil paint sits on the surface, with visible brushstrokes creating a kind of raw texture. The colors are muted, earthy – greys, browns, off-whites – except for the unexpected blush on her cheeks, which makes her seem almost alive. See how that little stroke of white makes the collar pop, a kind of painterly shorthand that brings her forward. There’s something about the directness in this piece, that makes me think about artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker. Both manage to distill the essence of the figure with bold simplicity, but in Makowski’s work, like hers, you sense that he is striving for something more than just capturing a likeness. This is about process, about feeling, and about the ongoing conversation that is art.