Lumberjack 1940 - 1944

Arnold Peter Weisz-Kubínčan made this painting of a lumberjack, using oil paint with a real sense of how the stuff works, like a cook with ingredients. The surface is thickly worked, a tactile landscape in itself. It's like Weisz-Kubínčan is wrestling with the paint to get the image out. See how the greens and yellows of the forest are applied with these vigorous strokes? They feel as alive as the trees themselves. There’s a kind of raw honesty to the application, a commitment to the act of painting as something physical and immediate. The red of the lumberjack’s body contrasts with the yellows and greens surrounding him to create a sense of push-pull in the image. This reminds me a little of Kokoschka, in the way that the inner life of the subject seems to be bursting out all over the canvas. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art isn't about answers, but about keeping the conversation going.