Czobel Bela Zsákutca 1927 1929

Bela Czobel painted 'Zsákutca', meaning 'Dead End Street', in 1927, using what looks like monochrome oils. I'm imagining he worked quickly, intuitively, spontaneously, and in the moment, almost like automatic writing! I can almost feel the surface of the painting, how the oil paints might have been smeared, layered, and blended to evoke the atmospheric mood of the scene. Those visible brushstrokes suggest a dynamic, lively process of image-making, with the artist adjusting and refining the composition as they went along. I like to think that he didn't know what the painting was going to be when he started, and perhaps neither did the viewer. That thick application of paint gives a tactile quality to the scene, and the overall effect is wonderfully ambiguous and evocative. It reminds me of other painters who embraced similar methods, like Courbet or Manet, or even some of the German Expressionists. The conversations between artists across time is important to remember.