Christ Before Pilate 1992

Frank Mason made this Christ Before Pilate with oil paint, at some point, but we don't know when. Look at the way he’s layered all these browns and reds in such a way that they’re almost violent. It’s like he’s dug into the canvas with the brush! The whole scene feels like it’s about to burst, with the tension of that moment just before a decision is made. See how the figure of Christ is so much lighter than the crowd. Mason lays the paint down thinly here, giving it a spectral feel, like a ghost at the centre of the riot. The mark-making is so expressive, right? You can almost feel the weight of the choice Pilate has to make in those heavy, dark strokes. It reminds me of some of the German Expressionists, like Emil Nolde, who also used color and brushwork to convey intense emotion. With this image, Mason’s not after realism; he’s after something deeper, a raw, emotional truth.