Lope de Vega 2016

Alejandro Cabeza made this painting, Lope de Vega, using oil on canvas. The mark making is interesting. There’s a certain looseness, especially in the face, that suggests a painter working quickly, intuitively, and the colour palette is constrained to browns and off whites. The texture of the paint is smooth, almost velvety, where the tones recede into darkness, but where the light hits, there’s a bit more impasto, more physicality to the medium. Look at that index finger pointing, it’s not quite a realistic rendering, but it captures the gesture, the essence of pointing. It’s like Cabeza is saying, "Here’s the idea," not getting bogged down in perfect representation. It reminds me a bit of some of Manet’s portraits, where the focus is on capturing a presence, a feeling, rather than photographic detail. Art isn’t about fixed meanings, it’s a conversation, a suggestion, an invitation to see the world a little differently.