Female Image 1960

Hryhorii Havrylenko made "Female Image" with what looks like oil on canvas, and it feels like a deep dive into the process of seeing. There's a real physicality to the paint; it's not trying to hide itself. You can see the tracks of the brush, the way he layered colors, and the ghost of decisions made and then painted over. Look at the way he renders the eyes, they look right through you. There is something really direct about this work, the way that Havrylenko fearlessly moves the paint around the canvas. It reminds me of some of the portraits that were happening at the same time in America. I think about someone like Alice Neel, in the directness and honesty. But there's something very particular to Havrylenko, a kind of rawness and immediacy, that makes this "Female Image" so compelling.