Portrait of Karlovac Mayor Ivan Benić (detail) 1994

This is Alfred Freddy Krupa’s painted portrait of Karlovac Mayor Ivan Benić. It’s 100 x 70 cm. I wonder what it was like for Krupa to create this. What kind of back and forth did they have? Were there many sittings? Was the mayor fidgety or quiet? What do you say when you have to capture somebody’s likeness like that? I’m really drawn to the way the face is modelled, with all these yellows and peaches. These flesh tones are layered on quite thinly – you can see it in the translucence around the cheekbones. There’s a lot of blending, and it makes me think about the physicality of painting – all the layering and working the paint across the surface. You can almost feel the hand of the artist at work. It reminds me of Van Gogh. I love the way artists are in this constant conversation across time, and this makes me want to go make my own painting right now.