Czóbel Béla Michael Kellerman 1970 1970

Béla Czóbel made this portrait of Michael Kellerman in 1970, using confident strokes of oil paint. Look how Czóbel has rendered the face in fleshy yellows and pinks, contrasting with the darkness of the suit. I'm wondering about the conversation between artist and sitter – was Kellerman a friend? I imagine Czóbel stepping back from the easel, head tilted, considering the composition. The materiality of the paint is so present, thick daubs applied with an almost sculptural intensity. There's something very powerful about the directness and immediacy of the brushstrokes that define the planes of the face. Czóbel was part of an ongoing conversation with other expressionist painters, who knew that a single brushstroke could convey feeling and meaning. What a gift, to be part of this lineage! Painting is an embodied practice. It embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations, making new spaces and worlds.