Self-Portrait 1937

Here's a self-portrait of Georgi Mashev made with oils sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. I can almost feel Mashev reaching into himself, trying to get at something essential about who he is. You know, the kind of thing you can only get at when you’re alone in the studio, staring into a mirror. The colors are muted – earthy greens and blues – like he's trying to blend into the background, but then there’s that fleshy, pink palette in his hand, a jolt of warmth against the cool tones. Look at the way he’s holding the brush, so gently, like he's coaxing something out of the canvas rather than forcing it. I wonder if he was thinking about Rembrandt or some other old master, trying to channel that same kind of soulful introspection. It feels like he’s inviting us into his private world, asking us to see him, really see him, not just as a painter, but as a person. It reminds you that painting is always a conversation, across time, between artists, between ourselves.