Untitled 1980

Chronis Botsoglou made this untitled portrait with oil on canvas, but when? Looking at it, I imagine Botsoglou approached this canvas with a kind of tender curiosity, building up the image through layers of thin, washy colour and tentative brushstrokes. See how the pinks and blues of the background seep into the figure, blurring the boundaries between body and space. I get a sense of someone not afraid to let the painting breathe, to let the unexpected happen. It feels like he was thinking about Vuillard, maybe? The quiet intimacy, the way the figure emerges from the surrounding atmosphere. And there's something about the vulnerability of the subject, a kind of raw honesty that reminds me of Alice Neel. It feels deeply personal, as if Botsoglou is searching for something beyond the surface, trying to capture a fleeting moment of connection and exchange. It speaks to me of the ongoing dialogue between artists, across time and space, each responding to the other's gaze.