Gipsies 1901

Karoly Ferenczy’s 'Gipsies' is a painting that wasn’t dated, and I can only imagine it emerged slowly, shifting from dark to light. I can see Karoly, brush in hand, circling around these figures, trying to conjure their spirit. The paint is pulled and pushed, the blue of the skirt and the red jacket are built from many colours. The violinist is like a ghost, a half-suggestion. The woman in the center feels more defined as she gathers her hair, but she is still somehow unresolved. You can feel him searching for the right expression, the perfect tilt of the head. There’s a real tenderness in the way the painting isn't fully resolved, but left open for the figures to breathe and exist in this liminal space. And that’s the thing about painting, isn’t it? It’s a conversation across time, where one artist's struggle can spark something new in another.