Portrait exercise at the second year of the academy 1992

This is a portrait made by Alfred Freddy Krupa, an exercise done during his second year at the academy, painted with what looks like oil on canvas. The palette here is restrained, almost somber – reds, blues, greys – but there's a surprising amount of life in it. It looks like the kind of painting where the process is right there on the surface. You can see the decisions being made, the pushing around of paint. Take a look at the eyes, those pools of grey with dark pupils. They’re heavy with something. The paint is applied quite thinly here, creating a sense of depth and vulnerability. The red ground peeks through in places, like a blush rising to the surface of the skin. It reminds me of some of Alice Neel's portraits, where the rawness of the paint becomes part of the emotional expression. Ultimately, portraiture is an exchange, a conversation between the artist and the sitter, but also with the viewer, with all of us.