Self Portrait 1903 - 1904

Rik Wouters made this self-portrait with oil on canvas, and right away, you can see he’s not trying to hide the act of painting. The brushstrokes are loose, almost impatient, especially in the background, where the colors blend into each other like a hazy memory. Looking closely, the way he builds up the shadows on his face is amazing. There's this one stroke of pale pink on his cheek that just sings, giving him life, a flush, against the darker tones. It’s like he’s daring you to see how paint can become flesh. Wouters reminds me of other artists like, say, Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also used these intense colors to convey a sense of inner life. It's this ongoing conversation between artists, where the real subject is not just what we see, but how we see and feel. Isn't that what painting is all about?