Nathaniel Catchpole 1902

Frederick George Cotman made this oil painting of Nathaniel Catchpole sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, working wet-into-wet, I imagine, to keep the edges soft and the figure emerging from the darkness. There's a real warmth to Catchpole's face, set against the cool, muted tones of his dark suit and the background. I can picture Cotman, stepping back from the easel, squinting, trying to capture not just a likeness but also the essence of the man. You see how the light catches the side of his face, how Cotman uses these little dabs of paint to create the highlights on his forehead? It gives him this kind of serene intelligence. I am also thinking about Lucien Freud and his portraits of people, pushing paint around until he could catch the truth of someone’s personality. It's like they're all in conversation with each other, across time, about how to really *see* someone.