Untitled (Mozart Profile to Viewer's Right - on Dark Green Background) 1945

Joseph Solman made this print of Mozart with… well, we don’t know exactly when, but let’s imagine him in the act, shifting colors, finding the line, maybe losing it and finding it again through pure intuition. The dark green background feels like a stage, and the grey Mozart emerges like a ghost. The black lines seem to dance around the edges of the form, and the blotches of green in the lower left add a touch of the unexpected. I love how Solman simplifies Mozart's profile; it reminds me of Philip Guston’s later works, raw and honest. You can almost feel Solman's hand moving across the paper, trying to capture something essential about the composer. He’s not just making a picture; he's having a conversation with Mozart, and with art history. It’s like he’s saying, “Hey Mozart, I see you, I feel you, and I’m gonna paint you my way.” And that, my friends, is the beauty of painting—it’s always a personal, messy, and totally unique act.