Rembrandt 2010

Alexander Roitburd made this painting, Rembrandt, using oil on canvas. The familiar composition is disrupted by a series of neon-like doodles sketched over the top. The painting style has this gorgeous impasto, especially in the flesh tones. You can see the layering of thin glazes with these thicker daubs, especially in the reclining figure. The color palette is warm, a bit earthy, but also heightened. Notice the single drip of red paint that has been allowed to streak down the figure in the foreground like a tear, like a wound. These marks feel intuitive, accidental almost, but also very deliberate in their placement. The doodles, on the other hand, are flat, opaque, like afterthoughts. The eye bounces from one to the other. Roitburd clearly knew his art history, but, like Sigmar Polke or Gerhard Richter, he wasn't afraid to mess with it. He lets the painting breathe, lets it be awkward, lets it be weird.