Czobel Bela Female Nude 1930 1930

Bela Czobel made this female nude in 1930, and looking at it, I can almost feel the quiet concentration in the room. Imagine Czobel, brush in hand, building up the figure with strokes of warm color. He coaxes out the form from the blue background, building up texture, shifting and changing as he hones in on the shape. See how he uses pinks and tans to capture the soft glow of skin, setting it off against that moody blue, with pops of orange and green in the background. I love the necklace with its heavy pendant. It almost grounds the figure, adding weight to her thoughtful, inward gaze. You get the sense he's really considering the weight of the body in space. Painters like Czobel are in constant dialogue with the past, riffing off old ideas to make something new, and in his hands, the nude becomes an intimate and deeply felt image.