Czóbel Körhinta 1904 1904

Bela Czobel made ‘Czóbel Körhinta’ with oil on canvas at the turn of the century. Look at this carousel and the frenzied brushwork, it's like a painterly cyclone. I can almost hear the giddy music and feel the motion, the blur of faces and colours. Czobel laid down a carnival of oranges, blues, greens, and pinks, a real circus of hues. Imagine him, palette in hand, trying to wrangle the chaos of the scene, maybe a bit like trying to catch a memory. The paint looks thick, scrubbed onto the canvas with gusto. It’s like he’s wrestling with the subject, not just depicting it. There’s something so gutsy about the way he’s attacked the canvas, that kind of energy that reminds me of Van Gogh or the Fauves, those wild beasts of colour. The whole thing feels impulsive, like he’s chasing after something fleeting, some feeling just out of reach. And that's painting, isn't it? A way of feeling, more than a way of seeing.