Woman in Yellow Chair 1933

Iosif Iser made this painting of a woman in a yellow chair with oil on canvas. You can see the hand of the artist so clearly in the brushwork and the way the image is constructed, it feels as though the painting is a living, breathing thing. The materiality of the painting, those tactile qualities, shape how we understand the image. The paint isn't overly thick but the brushstrokes are laid on top of one another to create visual depth and a luscious surface texture. The diagonal marks across the floor create a sense of perspective but are also just amazing swoops of paint. It's kind of like looking at a landscape as much as a figure painting. Iser seems to be saying, "This is a painting", not trying to trick us into thinking it's anything else. Iser reminds me of Vuillard, that same loose handling of paint, and interest in the everyday. I think, like many paintings, this one is about painting itself. It's always a conversation, isn't it?