Portrait of the Poet Emil Bønnelycke 1921

Vilhelm Lundstrom painted this portrait of the Poet Emil Bønnelycke with oil on canvas, but it's the unexpected color choices that grab you right away. I see the artist is unafraid to play with bold hues, making the Poet's skin almost orange against the vibrant blue of his suit. It's a pretty wild combination, right? The texture in this piece is something else. You can almost feel the thickness of the paint, especially in the way it builds up the form of the face and the folds of the suit. See how Lundstrom doesn't try to hide the strokes, instead he uses them to give the whole image a kind of raw energy. What I find interesting is the contrast between the carefully painted face and the more gestural background. It's like Lundstrom is saying, "Here's the poet, but he's also part of this bigger, messier world." This makes me think of other expressionists, like Kirchner, who were also playing with color and form to capture a feeling more than a likeness. Art is just an ongoing conversation, right?