Portrait of Arnold Schonberg 1906

Richard Gerstl captured Arnold Schonberg in oil on canvas. I love how the painting seems to hover between representation and abstraction. It's a really sensitive portrait, don't you think? I imagine Gerstl building up the surface, layer by layer, with these little dabs and strokes of browns, greens and reds. The paint doesn't seem too thick, more like a veil of colour washes that create depth and form. I wonder what he was thinking? Was it a commission or a personal project? There's a real vulnerability to Schonberg's gaze, and Gerstl captured something of his inner world. The overall impression is one of quiet intensity, like a musical composition slowly building to a crescendo. It also makes me think of other painters like Klimt and Schiele, all of them riffing off each other, pushing the boundaries of what painting could be. Painting is, after all, an act of call and response. It’s an ongoing conversation between artists that builds upon each other’s discoveries and failures.