Self portrait 1913

This small self-portrait by Theo van Doesburg is made with oil on canvas and it's like he's working out something in real-time. Look at the face – the way the paint kind of blobs and drags, especially around the eyes and cheek, with these pinks and greens swirling together. You can almost see him thinking, rethinking, trying to nail down his own likeness. It's not about smooth perfection, right? It's about the messy, physical process of building an image, layer by layer. I love how the brushstrokes are so visible, it is not trying to hide itself. Take the white of the shirt, the way he’s sculpted it, it’s almost as if it’s made of clay! This reminds me of artists like Gustave Courbet, who were all about showing the guts of painting. Ultimately, this is about painting as a way to figure things out, a constant back-and-forth between the artist and the canvas.