Still Life 1939

Kmetty János made this painting of a still life with what looks like oil paint, and a lovely dark palette. I really get a sense of the artist experimenting here. It's like he’s thinking through the painting, trying out different ideas and letting them build up on the canvas. You can see this in the little details, like the purple dresser, it is rendered with such expressive brushstrokes. There's such a thick impasto. I wonder what Kmetty was thinking as he painted this. I think of other painters too. How they work through similar problems with light, colour, shape. I imagine them all talking to each other across time, picking up on each other’s cues. This painting feels like a little piece of that conversation, a moment of exchange and inspiration. You know?