Model with Big Hands 1920

Istvan Farkas made this portrait called ‘Model with Big Hands’ with oil on canvas. I can just imagine Farkas working on this picture. The canvas is built up of layered brushstrokes, like a kind of building process. Some passages are more descriptive, others more ambiguous, dissolving into the gloomy background. The subdued palette creates a sombre mood, but the contrast between light and shadow, particularly on the face, gives the sitter a ghostly presence. I wonder, what was it like for the model sitting there, under the gaze of the artist? Did she feel exposed or empowered? There’s a psychological intensity here that is really quite striking. The hands are definitely 'big'! They look strong and capable, in contrast to the almost demure pose of the figure. It makes me think about how painters like Farkas and Paula Modersohn-Becker were looking at the figure in new ways. It’s like they were trying to understand something about what it means to be human.