Niederdorf-Sepp 1943

Varlin’s painting of Niederdorf-Sepp is made up of these juicy, scrubby marks in a limited palette, a way of working which gives form to the experience of artmaking itself. There's this beautiful tension between representation and abstraction in the thick, tactile paint of this portrait. Look at how Varlin models the form with such a rough, expressive touch, really pushing the limits of figuration. It’s almost like you can feel the artist wrestling with the material, trying to capture something fleeting and real. I’m drawn to the way the face almost dissolves into the background, a swirl of muted tones and broken brushstrokes that hints at the impermanence of things. Varlin reminds me of someone like Soutine, who also seemed to be obsessed with the materiality of paint and the emotional power of distortion, both artists pushing against the boundaries of traditional portraiture. It’s not about getting a perfect likeness, it's about digging into the inner life of the subject, and the medium.