Meduza II 1904

Józef Mehoffer painted this portrait, Meduza II, with oil on canvas. Look how he’s built this painting up, layer upon layer. I can imagine him, starting with thin washes of colour, maybe a little tentative at first, mapping out the basic forms. Then, he returns to the canvas, adding thicker, more deliberate strokes, like the sumptuous black fur. I wonder if he labored over the face, trying to capture the sitter’s likeness, while the fur was perhaps looser, more gestural, and free? The textures are so interesting here. The juxtaposition of the smooth skin with the softness of the fur, the delicate lace and the glinting jewels—they all create a rich and engaging surface. It reminds me a bit of Klimt, you know, with that interest in surface and pattern. It makes you wonder, what were all these artists talking about? What was the conversation they were all having about painting? It's a painting that invites you to slow down, to really look, and to get lost in the materiality of the paint itself.