Portrait of the Artist Magnus Enckell 1915

Alfred William Finch painted this portrait of Magnus Enckell in 1915 using oil on canvas, and just look at that lovely ochre background! I can imagine Finch in his studio, squinting at Enckell, trying to capture not just his likeness, but also his spirit. The paint is applied in these delicious, thick strokes, almost sculptural, especially in the way the light hits Enckell’s face. I think that Finch really labored over the nuances of the skin tones and the way the light wraps around his brow bone. I bet he was thinking about the challenge of portraying someone else’s inner life, their thoughts and experiences. And those brushstrokes communicate so much feeling! They’re directional, energetic – they give shape to the form but also to the mood, like Finch is trying to capture something fleeting, something beyond just appearance. We all do this, you know, we influence each other. Enckell was part of a community of artists, all responding to and building on what came before, it's like one big, ongoing conversation. It’s all about embodied expression, where there’s ambiguity, and, you know, a lot of room for interpretation.