Untitled 1961

This untitled work by Vilen Barsky is like a shadowy figure emerging from the depths. I can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the surface, layering dark strokes to build up this ghostly form. The palette is so restrained, almost monochrome, but within that limited range, there's a whole world of texture. Look at the way the white chalk or paint is scratched into the darker ground, creating these wiry lines that define the figure’s contours, the hatching marks implying mass and volume. I wonder what Barsky was thinking as he made this. Was he wrestling with the figure, trying to capture its essence, or was he more interested in the pure act of mark-making? For me, the best paintings are not about answers. They're about opening up a space for dialogue. Barsky's figure haunts me in a similar way to some of Goya’s ghostly figures. It reminds me of the ongoing conversations artists have across time, always riffing off each other, pushing boundaries, and challenging our perceptions.