Image 1962

Vilen Barsky, born in 1930, made this expressionistic portrait in black and white ink. The intensity of the dark ink—it’s like staring into a night sky, a void punctuated by these stark, ghostly white lines conjuring a face. I imagine Barsky hunched over the paper, his hand moving quickly, almost desperately, trying to capture something fleeting. The white isn’t just white; look closely and you can see red, or maybe blue, edging the lines, like a feverish glow, or the ghost of color past. There is something urgent and unfinished about this work, reminding us that paintings don’t just appear; they emerge, fighting their way into being. It’s a powerful, raw expression, echoing the anxieties and intensities of painters like Grosz and Kirchner. Artists are in a constant exchange, riffing off of each other across time and space. There’s no final word, just an ongoing conversation.