Czóbel Béla Still Life 1930 1930

Béla Czóbel made this still life with oil paint around 1930. He builds the image with strokes of thick paint, a real enthusiasm for the stuff of painting, and the colour sings! Look at the lower section, the table, built from juicy brushstrokes of red and white, so vivid and alive. He seems to be in love with the simple act of putting paint on canvas. There’s a great sense of freedom in the brushwork, like he’s chasing a feeling more than a likeness. The tabletop is rendered with as much care as the vase and flowers, a real generosity of looking. It reminds me of Bonnard, who also found endless inspiration in the everyday, but there’s an expressionist energy here that feels very modern, even today. It is this embrace of ambiguity and multiple readings that keeps me coming back to paintings like this.