Portrait of a man 1969

Nikos Nikolaou painted this portrait of a man with oil on canvas. It's the kind of painting where you can really see the hand of the artist at work. The surface is alive with visible brushstrokes, laid down with confidence and a kind of casual energy. Look closely, and you'll see how Nikolaou builds up the form of the man's face and coat with individual marks of different hues. It gives a feeling of texture and movement, like the light is shifting across the surface. I'm drawn to the way Nikolaou uses the paint to define the planes of the man’s face, especially around the eyes and cheekbones. See how the brushstrokes capture the subtle gradations of light and shadow? It's as if each dab of paint is a tiny piece of a puzzle, coming together to form a cohesive whole. Like a slightly softer, sketchier version of Manet. This piece reminds us that painting is as much about the process as it is about the final image, and that ambiguity can be a source of strength.