Dimensions: support: 1300 x 1000 mm frame: 1535 x 1245 x 75 mm
Copyright: © The estate of Oscar Kokoschka | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Kokoschka's "Time, Gentlemen Please," a large canvas at the Tate, feels almost violently raw. What's your first take? Editor: A primal scream made visual. All those reds—blood, fury, maybe shame? It's like witnessing an exposed nerve. Curator: The title, a common phrase to signal bar closing, adds a layer. It's about endings, forced or otherwise. But what do you make of the figures' distorted forms? Editor: I see echoes of ancient iconography—sacrifice, purging. The way they're intertwined suggests a deep codependency or, perhaps, the artist wrestling with himself. Curator: Could be. Kokoschka did grapple with personal demons, channeling them into expressionistic fervour. Makes you wonder what story these brushstrokes are obscuring. Editor: Perhaps the point isn't clarity, but the feeling itself—that raw, unadulterated human experience on the edge. Curator: True. It’s a visceral reminder that sometimes, the mess is the message.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kokoschka-time-gentlemen-please-t04876
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The closing-time call, so familiar in British pubs, signals for the artist the arrival of Father Time, personified by the bearded figure whose hand is on the latch of the door. Walking towards the door as death beckons, Kokoschka turns momentarily and faces the viewer with one last, agonised stare, confronting the inevitability of his death. The vigorous paint handling and intensity of facial expression make this painting a particularly moving example of Kokoschka's late work, akin in its mixture of animation and psychological urgency to the late works of Picasso. Begun when Kokoschka was eighty-five years old, this is the last of his many self-portraits. Gallery label, August 2004
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