Wide-eyed 2005

Endre Bartos made this painting, Wide-eyed, with oil paint. The strokes are short and juicy, almost like little building blocks of color. You can really see the process, the way the artist was thinking and feeling as they laid down each mark. Look at the texture, how the thick paint stands up from the surface, catching the light. The colors are intense, these reds and yellows, but there's a darkness, too, like a shadow. Notice the area around the eyes, the intensity of the gaze. The brushstrokes are almost frantic here, creating a sense of unease, an emotional kind of realism. I see echoes of someone like Munch in the way Bartos uses color and gesture to convey a raw, psychological state. These aren’t pretty pictures but these are urgent, honest expressions. Art, after all, isn't about answers. It's about asking questions, embracing the weird, and seeing the world in a new way.