Portrait of a lady 1908

This is Alexej von Jawlensky’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’ painted with oil on board. Look at the colours, so bold, like he was unafraid of pushing them to their limit. It’s like the painting is built from feelings rather than trying to capture a likeness. The texture is really something else, isn’t it? You can almost feel the way the brush danced across the surface. Look at the green around the lady’s face, those little strokes, playful and free, like they’re having a conversation with the yellow of her face. It's clear that the paint is laid on pretty thick. And the mark-making? It’s honest, raw, like the painting is revealing itself to you, layer by layer. Jawlensky makes me think a bit of Matisse, that same love of colour and form, but with a kind of roughness. What I love about painting is its ability to hold so many feelings and ideas at once, it’s a playground of possibilities.