Model with Big Hands 1920

Istvan Farkas made this painting, Model with Big Hands, with what looks like oil paint. There’s a lot of brown here, like the painting is being consumed by the darkness. There’s real tension between the subject and the paint. It’s like the artist is really fighting for her presence. I love how the artist has used the brush to pull the paint across the canvas. Look at the curtain behind her, it feels like the artist is using rags to smudge the brown and create depth and shadow. Then notice the way he’s brought the same technique to the model’s face, using the white to cut out the planes and edges of her face, like he’s sculpting with the paint. The tension between the form and ground makes the whole painting so alive. The way Farkas manipulates the paint reminds me of Auerbach, who built up the paint on the canvas to create these really heavy, physical forms.