The Painter 1932

Sandor Bortnyik’s “The Painter” is a painting that steps back to look at itself, cooly made without knowing exactly when. It's like a quiet, slightly unsettling stage set. There's a flattened, almost mechanical feel to the forms, but then you notice the subtle gradations of color, the way the light catches the edge of the canvas. It reminds me that even the most controlled and deliberate processes still have an element of chance. Look at the way Bortnyik renders the artist’s form - his back is turned, anonymous, almost like a mannequin, yet the subtle curve of his shoulder, the way the light catches the fabric of his shirt, suggests a human presence. It's this tension between the abstract and the representational that makes the painting so compelling. It feels like he is playing with the cool precision of someone like Leger. Ultimately, this piece is all about looking, about the act of seeing and representing and how slippery that can be.