Portrait of Jan Rubczak 1930

Olga Boznanska made this portrait of Jan Rubczak with oil paints, and you can see how she’s really wrestling with the medium. It’s all about the touch, the surface, and the feel of the paint. There’s this incredible dance between what’s hidden and what’s revealed, a tension I recognize from my own painting process. Looking at the portrait, I’m drawn to the way Boznanska builds up the surface with layers of thin, transparent strokes. It’s almost like she’s conjuring the figure from the shadows. See how the brushwork around the edges of his face and hands is so loose, almost dissolving into the background? That’s where the painting really comes alive for me. It reminds me of Whistler and the way he captures fleeting impressions with such sensitivity.