Asztali csendélet 1924

Sandor Bortnyik painted this still life, sometime called "Asztali csendélet", with I guess oil on canvas. Look at how he lets the colors do the talking, right? It's all about these confident, blocky shapes. The way he builds the picture is like a puzzle, each piece playing off the others. There is something very satisfying about the way the red rectangle sits, it's like a grounding force amidst the other cooler colors, and the brushwork is so clear. You can almost feel the texture of the paint, thick and opaque in some spots, thinner in others. It feels so modern but timeless too. Bortnyik's got this clean, graphic style happening that reminds me of some of Léger’s work. But where Léger is all about the machine age, Bortnyik feels more intimate, you know? It's this quiet conversation of shapes and colors. It's like he's saying, "Hey, beauty is all around, even in the simplest things."