Portrait of Leon Golub 2004

Enrique Martínez Celaya painted this large portrait of Leon Golub using oil and wax on canvas. I’m imagining Celaya in the studio, wrestling with this image, layering dark tones to construct Golub’s solemn expression. What’s so cool is how he creates these horizontal bands across the surface, almost like interruptions. It makes me think about memory and how we piece together fragments of someone's identity. There's a real weight to the paint itself, thick and almost sculptural in places. Each stroke seems deliberate, searching for the essence of Golub. I feel like Celaya is not just painting a likeness, but channeling the spirit of another artist who’s grappling with similar questions of humanity. The way Celaya’s built up the surface reminds me of Golub’s own raw, confrontational canvases. It's like they're having a conversation across time, pushing each other to dig deeper into the messy realities of life.