Jens Thiis 1909

Edvard Munch made this portrait of Jens Thiis sometime in the 1920s, probably in oil on canvas. It's all about process, the way marks accumulate to describe a figure. The materiality of the painting feels so present. Look at the surface, how the white ground peeks through, and how the dark strokes of paint build up the form of the coat. There is a looseness, an openness, a feeling of air circulating within the image, which lightens the dark palette. Notice the little triangle of white on his breast pocket, echoed in the white of the shirt collar. These understated details pull the whole thing together. It makes me think of Manet and the way he also let the ground breathe through the image. Both artists leave space for ambiguity, inviting us to fill in the gaps and make our own meaning.