Portret mężczyzny w kapeluszu z cygarem 1930

Tadeusz Makowski painted this ‘Portret mężczyzny w kapeluszu z cygarem’ with oil on canvas and you can see that Makowski is really feeling the paint. It's like he's sculpting with it, building up the surface with these chunky, expressive strokes. Look at the way the reddish hues define the man's face, and how they contrast with the cooler tones of his shirt. There's a real physicality to the medium here, a sense of the artist's hand at work. And what about that nose? It's almost cartoonish in its exaggeration, but it adds so much character to the piece. It’s these little touches that make the painting feel alive. Thinking about other artists who were playing with similar ideas, I'm reminded of someone like Chaïm Soutine, who also wasn't afraid to distort and exaggerate form in the service of emotional expression. Art's just one big conversation, right?