Deux Chevaliers En Armure 1898

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted 'Deux Chevaliers En Armure' with oil on canvas, and you can really see the hand of the artist. It’s almost as if the painting was made right in front of us. Look closely, and you'll see how he applied the paint in layers, with visible brushstrokes. It’s very gestural, giving the scene a dynamic, almost unfinished quality. The materiality of the paint itself becomes part of the subject; the strokes build up the forms, creating texture and depth on the canvas. Toulouse-Lautrec was trained in academic painting, but here, he's loosened the rules. The visible brushwork and the way he lets the colors blend suggest a more direct, immediate approach, which was modern for the time. Ultimately, how the artwork was made is essential to what the artwork communicates. It encourages us to appreciate art not just for what it depicts, but for the process and skill involved in its creation.