Conversation with a hunter 1925

Tadeusz Makowski’s painting shows two hunters in a muted, earthy palette, their conversation hanging in the air. I imagine Makowski stepping back, squinting, building up the scene with thin layers of oil paint. What were the stakes of the discussion between the hunters? Are they comrades or competitors? Maybe it’s all a bit absurd and theatrical. The rabbit in its burrow becomes a kind of prompter in this strange tableau. The surface is matte and dry, giving the scene a slightly dreamlike quality. Look how the lines defining the figures are soft and yielding, not really pinned down. I see echoes of folk art, children’s book illustration, and maybe even a touch of early modernism. I love the awkwardness of the hunters’ gestures, how they seem to be acting out their roles rather than just being. Makowski is conversing with other artists, a back-and-forth across decades and continents. Paintings like this remind me that art is often a process of feeling one’s way through, embracing the not-knowing, and letting the work unfold in unexpected ways.