Calf 1927

Bertalan Pór made this painting of calves with oil on canvas. The violet-tinged sky sits above the open field, where ochre and yellows are dashed and scrubbed in a hurry. A herd of cows, each rendered in quick, dark marks, stands, shoulders touching. Imagine Pór, moving the paint around, adding here and scraping away there, trying to find a way to make the painting come alive. You can see the evidence of his efforts. A certain impatience in the line work. I bet Pór was thinking about folk art when he made this; it reminds me of Chagall. The figures are compressed into a shallow foreground, as if in a dream. The colours vibrate against each other and the calves almost glow from within. Painting is a conversation between artists, a way of seeing and feeling the world, passed back and forth over time. This painting embodies the energy and intensity of that exchange. It is an invitation to slow down, look closely, and see where it might take you.