Czóbel Béka Tóth Ember 1904 1904

Béla Czóbel captured this portrait in 1904, probably using oil paint on canvas or board. Look at the way those blues and yellows pull us into the painting! Czóbel layers brushstroke upon brushstroke, and you can almost feel him building up the surface, lost in the act of seeing. The way he captures the figure's shadow is great. I imagine him standing before the canvas, mixing his paints, squinting at his subject, and trying to capture the essence of his being with each deliberate mark. The hat brim shadowing the sitter’s face, the collar open at the neck – these all tell a story. It reminds me a little of Van Gogh. I bet Czóbel was looking at him. The materiality of the paint itself becomes part of the narrative, the thick impasto adding depth and texture to the surface. We can sense the artist's hand in every stroke, the push and pull of color and form, the struggle to articulate something intangible.