Portrait of Anton Peschka 1911

Egon Schiele painted this portrait of Anton Peschka with watercolors, and you can see his sweeping brushstrokes. He mixed blues and purples and peach. I imagine Schiele wanting to capture his friend Anton’s essence, using color to explore mood and emotion, not just to represent reality. He had to consider every line, every wash of color. He wanted to find a new way to see Anton, and make us see him that way too. The paint is fluid, almost translucent, the brushstrokes are like whispers. It’s all feeling. I love how the black areas give a boldness to the rendering of Peschka's hand. How would it feel to sit for Schiele? What was it like for him to see Anton's face emerging on the page, one brushstroke at a time? I see echoes of Van Gogh in the expressive brushwork. You know, artists build on each other, remixing ideas across time. Painting invites us to slow down, feel, and connect.