Portrait of Feliks Jasieński Dressed as a Bedouin 1906 - 1910

Leon Wyczółkowski painted this portrait of Feliks Jasieński dressed as a Bedouin with visible brushstrokes and a muted palette. I wonder what it was like for Wyczółkowski to paint Jasieński, probably in his studio, wearing this ornate costume. I can almost feel the weight of that gorgeous cloak on his shoulders, the soft pink contrasting with the golden headdress. Look at the way the paint is applied, it's almost like Wyczółkowski is sketching with color, blocking in the forms with loose, confident strokes. The brushstrokes become a kind of shorthand, a way of capturing the essence of the figure without getting bogged down in detail. The slight suggestion of hatching on the front of the cloak is suggestive of the light, but it is also the artist's intention to describe the scene in a way that captures its feeling. I see echoes of artists like Singer Sargent in Wyczółkowski’s painterly touch, that shared interest in capturing the fleeting effects of light and the character of the sitter. Painting is like an exchange, an ongoing conversation across time. Each artist builds on the discoveries of those who came before, pushing the boundaries of what painting can do.