Vajda Lajos Önarckép 1924 Olaj, Papír 370x360 1924

Curator: Here we have Lajos Vajda’s "Self-Portrait" from 1924. Executed in oil on paper, the work is roughly 37 by 36 centimeters. Editor: It’s... unsettling, isn't it? That stark gaze. It feels very immediate, despite the distance of almost a century. The colors are muted, earthy—yet those piercing eyes hold all the focus. There's something almost accusatory in them. Curator: I'm struck by the tangible quality of the paint. You can see how Vajda applied it in thick, deliberate strokes, especially noticeable around the face and the cap. The materiality of the oil paint against the paper supports this intense, almost visceral experience. He seems to use color less for realism and more for emotional expression. The whole is very physical. Editor: Absolutely, that's what grabs me too. It is not just representational; it feels constructed, molded. Almost like clay under the artist's hands, conveying the depth of self-inspection through tactile labor. You can feel the process. The rawness, you know? I feel the paper he's painting on, I sense him working to uncover his truth through these strokes. Curator: The context is also fascinating. Vajda was part of a rising wave of modernist artists experimenting with form and pushing against academic traditions, of course, but what strikes me most is his turn from art as "beauty" towards the artwork as an exploration, something created from humble and practical materials: Oil on Paper. This brings something to it. Editor: I can't help but feel it hints at the universal struggle to understand oneself. But for him, it had to be built piece by piece on paper to achieve an inner resolution. He makes the ordinary… extra-ordinary. A paper surface with a very solid feeling. Curator: Looking at Vajda's "Self-Portrait" one gets a glimpse not only into an individual, but a portrait born from and of its own materials—the tangible reality of making, working class consciousness reflected in materials, brushstrokes and paper surface itself. Editor: It invites you into a dialogue—both with the artist and yourself, a journey he invites you to, with earthy oils and a raw honesty on a simple surface of humble paper.