Der Kakadu 1905

Leo Putz made this still life, Der Kakadu, with oil on canvas, and I love the immediacy of the brushwork. The way the paint is dabbed on in these short strokes, it's like Putz is building the image right in front of us. I’m really drawn to the texture here. Look at the bird's head – you can almost feel the feathery surface, even though it's just paint. And then you see the vase, this dark, reflective blob of paint. There's something so tactile about it, like I could reach out and touch it. It reminds me of Morandi, with that same focus on simple objects and how light plays across their surfaces. You can really see Putz thinking about how colour and form interact. Art, for me, is about these kinds of conversations – artists riffing off each other, playing with ideas. It's never about having the last word, it’s about embracing the messy, beautiful ambiguity of it all.