Self-portrait 1932

Istvan Ilosvai Varga painted this self-portrait in 1932, we can see that he’s worked up the surface with loose brushstrokes, which is how he seems to have approached the construction of the whole picture. There's something kind of raw about the paint and the way it sits on the canvas, creating a gritty, tactile surface. The colors are moody, almost somber, but then he throws in this bolt of blue at the collar, a touch of unexpected color that zings. Notice how the face is handled, the subtle shadows and the intensity of the gaze, like he’s trying to figure something out about himself. It reminds me a bit of some of the German Expressionist portraits; that same kind of angst and psychological depth. But Varga’s got his own thing going on here, his own way of working through paint to ask questions, not just about himself, but maybe about all of us.