The Baluch 1995

Morteza Katouzian made this sensitive portrait of The Baluch using oils on canvas, and what hits me is how alive the painting feels. It’s all in the brushstrokes, really – feathery and light in the turban, but then dug in and dark around the beard. You can almost see him thinking, right? Katouzian plays with opacity and light, giving you just enough to see. The face is built up with these delicate glazes, layer upon layer, until he gets that depth of feeling, that sense of a person thinking. Then look at the folds of the turban – loose, almost unfinished, but they capture the weight of the fabric perfectly. It reminds me of Lucian Freud's portraits, but there’s also something more tender here. Katouzian invites you into a space of contemplation, where fixed meanings fade and you can just be with this person, this moment.