DAVID AND BATHSHEBA (II) 1985

Ernst Fuchs paints a biblical scene with oil on canvas. Looking at this painting, I imagine Fuchs building the image up with layers and layers of paint. See how the faces emerge from a deeply textured background, almost as if they are geological formations, shaped by time and emotion. I can almost feel the weight of the paint, sense its viscosity. The colours are intense, jewel-like, giving it a surreal, dreamlike quality. Fuchs would have been considering the push-and-pull between color and form to evoke complex feelings. That single tear falling from David’s eye, how delicately placed! The Pre-Raphaelites, maybe even some of the Symbolists, come to mind. It's like Fuchs is in conversation with them across time and space. He’s adding his voice to the endless exploration of what it means to be human, to feel, to desire, to create.