Gustaf Hellström, 1882-1953, författare 1913

Nils Dardel painted this portrait of Gustaf Hellström, the Swedish author, using oil on canvas. Dardel lays down these soft, greyish colours with a real directness. I love how the face is built up with these chunky marks, like he’s sculpting with the paint, really getting into the physicality of it all. Notice how the background kind of melts into the subject, creating this intimate, almost brooding atmosphere. It feels like Dardel is less interested in capturing a perfect likeness and more invested in exploring the emotional or psychological depths of his sitter. There is a mark just to the right of Hellström’s head that looks like a glob of white, but may actually be a hole where paint has been lost. It feels very poignant, like time has been allowed to erode and change the painting, adding to its unique story. When I look at this I think about the work of Alice Neel, both artists use paint to capture the essence of their subject. For me, art is really about opening up possibilities, and inviting multiple perspectives and interpretations.