Portrait of a lady 1908

Alexej von Jawlensky built up this ‘Portrait of a Lady’ with clashing strokes of oil paint. Look at the juxtaposition of green and yellow, red and pink. It's like the paint is fighting for space, pushing the image forward. I can imagine him, brush in hand, circling this face, trying to capture something beyond likeness, something about her essence. Those eyes—outlined in green like some kind of surreal makeup—stare right through you. It makes me wonder what Jawlensky wanted to capture. Was he trying to capture the interior life of the sitter? Or something about his own? The texture is thick, almost sculptural in places, like he was wrestling with the paint, trying to find the right balance. You can see a real kinship with other expressionist painters here. They're all trying to use the medium to get at something deeper, something more raw, something like feeling. Ultimately, it’s all a conversation. We're all just riffing off each other, trying to make sense of this crazy world.