Breitner op zijn doodsbed 1923

Martin Monnickendam made this tender portrait of Breitner on his deathbed with delicate washes of blue, grey, and rust-colored paint. Just imagine Monnickendam at the side of his friend's deathbed. The urgency, the quiet, the intimacy of the scene. I wonder what it was like to try and capture someone’s likeness in such a moment. Look at the simple strokes that define Breitner’s face: the soft curve of his beard, the gentle shadow under his nose, the closed eyelids, the slight part in his hair. There's an incredible sense of peace and stillness about the painting. Monnickendam wasn't trying to create a perfect likeness, but to record a presence, an essence. This portrait feels like a very personal meditation on mortality. Like, who are we when we are at our most still? What does it mean to really see another person, especially at their most vulnerable? This act of painting is a way to remember, to honor, to keep the conversation going between artists, across the threshold of death.