Antonio Buero Vallejo 2015

Alejandro Cabeza painted this portrait of Antonio Buero Vallejo, likely with oil on canvas, using a muted, earthy palette. Look at how the paint is applied. It's not blended to death, right? You can see the marks, the strokes of the brush. It's like the artist is thinking out loud. The colour is built up in layers, one on top of the other. Notice, around the mouth, how the shadows are suggested with just a few strokes of darker brown. The artist isn't trying to trick you into thinking you're seeing a real person, he’s letting you in on the secret. This approach is, I think, connected to the legacy of artists like Lucian Freud or even, going back further, Manet. Artists who were less interested in illusionism, and more in just, well, painting. We're left with a very human, very present, image that feels immediate.