Charles Ephrussi 1906

Léon Bonnat made this portrait of Charles Ephrussi with oil on canvas. Look at the brushwork around the figure – wild and free. I bet Bonnat was standing back, maybe squinting, trying to capture something essential about Ephrussi. I imagine the painting emerging, not all at once, but through layers. The thin washes of color on the background – blues and greens – like a memory of a landscape. Then, the dark, decisive strokes of the suit, the careful dabs of light on the face. That mustache! It's like a whole other character. It could be a conversation in itself, or a playful way of signaling status. Do you think painters think about that when they paint facial hair? There’s a kind of exchange that happens between painters across time, a dialogue about how we see and represent the world, influencing one another’s decisions. Painting is an ongoing conversation about the world. A conversation we can all join.