Czóbel Young Man 1972 1972

Bela Czobel made 'Young Man' in 1972 using what looks like a whole lotta oil paint. It looks like he was workin’ fast, with bold strokes of yellow, blue, pink, and a backdrop of red and teal. I can feel the speed and energy in his hand. Was he chasing something? I can almost feel what it was like to stand in front of the canvas, mixing those colours, trying to get the likeness just right. Not too perfect, but with enough feeling to capture the gaze, the shadow on the face, the cut of the jacket. Czobel has a thing for these expressive portraits, and it makes me think of other painters like Kirchner or Heckel, all tryin' to catch a mood, a moment, with just a few swipes of the brush. That pink dab of paint for the tie? It's kinda perfect. It's like he's saying, "Here's the guy, but here's also the painting." Painters are always riffing off each other like this. It's like a conversation that never ends.