Czobel Bela Nyergesi Fiu 1907 1907

Bela Czobel painted 'Czobel Bela Nyergesi Fiu' in 1907, and it's a riot of color laid down with real confidence. It feels like he was having a blast. The skin tones are what grab me – pinks, purples, yellows, not what you'd expect, right? But it works, it really does. The paint looks pretty thin, like he’s staining the canvas in places, letting the weave show through. Then elsewhere, like around the boy's face, he builds it up a bit, giving it some weight. There’s a dark blue triangle just under his neck that I keep coming back to, it flattens the whole picture plane, but also gives you a sense of depth. Czobel reminds me of the Fauves in his use of colour, like Matisse maybe. There's a similar joy in paint, a sense of freedom that makes you want to grab a brush and dive in. It's not about perfection, it's about feeling.