Portrait of W.A.F. Banner 1933

This is Isaac Israels’ ‘Portrait of W.A.F. Banner’, painted in 1933 using oils. Look at those brushstrokes! The painting feels like it came into being through layers of trial and error, each stroke a record of a decision made, a path taken and then maybe rejected, or maybe accepted. I can imagine Israels, brush in hand, circling around the canvas, trying to capture something of Banner’s essence. There's a kind of somber moodiness to the palette, with its subdued browns and grays, reflecting the serious mood of the sitter. Israels’ use of thick, creamy paint gives the surface a tactile quality. Each dab and stroke communicates an intention, a feeling, a flicker of thought. It reminds me of the portraits by other artists like Whistler, who were also trying to capture not just a likeness, but a sense of the inner life of their subjects. Ultimately, painting is a conversation across time. Each artist builds on the work of those who came before, in an ongoing exchange of ideas and inspiration.