Czobel Bela Youn Girl in Pink 1960 1960

This is Bela Czobel's 1960 painting, "Young Girl in Pink." Look at those brushstrokes! They are applied in layers, almost as if Czobel is building up the image, one stroke at a time. I can imagine him stepping back, squinting, adding another dash of pink, another shadow. You know, the act of painting is like a conversation. The artist starts with a question, maybe just a color or a line, and the painting answers back. It tells you where to go next. What was it like to stand in front of the canvas, brush in hand, wondering how to capture the essence of this young woman? I love how the pink of her jacket clashes a little with the blues and browns in the background. That tension makes the painting sing. It makes me think about how, as artists, we’re all in this ongoing conversation. We’re responding to the paintings that came before us, adding our voices to the mix. It’s a beautiful, messy, uncertain process.