Stéphane Mallarmé 1984

This is Edvard Munch’s Stéphane Mallarmé, and it's like peeking through green-tinted glasses into someone's soul. The way Munch has handled the lithographic crayon—it’s all scratchy and immediate, a real contrast to the smoothness you might expect. Look at the area around the eyes; there's this nervous energy, a feeling that Mallarmé is both present and distant. The green is so pervasive, it’s almost like the portrait is exhaling a mood, a melancholic breath. I am reminded of how Philip Guston built up his paintings with a similar sense of raw, unfiltered emotion. Both artists share that commitment to the messy, imperfect side of art making. Munch isn't trying to give us a perfect likeness; he's capturing something more elusive, the inner life of a person. And that's the kind of art that stays with you, long after you've walked away.