Nigel Tangye 1946

Wyndham Lewis painted this portrait of Nigel Tangye with oils, building up the forms through layers of careful brushwork. Look at the rich yellow of the cardigan, made up of all these closely toned shades that vibrate against each other – a really gorgeous tension there. The colours and tones feel so precisely considered in this painting, everything from the dark blues of the curtain to the muted reds of the trousers, it’s all carefully balanced. It’s interesting to consider how Lewis uses the paint to create a sense of form and space. The paint isn’t applied thickly, but in these thin, deliberate layers, and the way that these interact creates all of the drama. Look at the edge of the book on the table, these almost mechanical lines, the careful rendering of highlights, each mark considered with great precision. It reminds me a little of David Hockney’s portraiture. What do you think? Ultimately, it's that sense of control and deliberation that characterizes Lewis's work, inviting us to contemplate the interplay between intention and execution, precision and ambiguity.