Blecha 1916

Josef Capek made this painting, "Blecha", with what seems like quick, decisive strokes and a limited palette, mostly reds and whites, creating a mood that feels both intimate and a bit detached. I’m really drawn to the way Capek uses the paint itself. It's not about hiding the process; you can see the brushstrokes, the texture, where he's layered the paint to build up the form of this figure. There's this one spot, right on the breast, where he's carved into the paint, and it gives the piece a real sense of physicality. It's like he's not just painting a body, but he's also sculpting it, digging into the surface to find the shape. Capek reminds me of Modigliani, another artist who was all about simplifying forms and using color to express emotion, even though their styles are very different. I feel like art is always a conversation, and each artist is responding to what came before, trying to push it further, to see the world in a new way.