A Song at Dusk 2011

Lu Cong painted this portrait, “A Song at Dusk,” with a meticulous technique that makes it look like a photograph. But it’s not—it's oil paint, carefully layered to create this person's likeness. I feel for Lu Cong. It must have been a challenge to make a face that real. The artist clearly had a vision, a very precise one. Just imagine the focus it would have taken to render every subtle shift in tone and texture, from the rosy cheeks to the soft, diffused background. I keep coming back to the shirt. It's as though the painting is about painting. The small squares of the shirt become abstract marks, a puzzle. Are they brushstrokes? Patches of color? A grid to organize the real? It's a reminder that all portraiture is also abstraction. It's like Lu Cong is saying, "Here's what it's like to really look—to see all the layers, all the effort, all the possibilities."