Bergamo, Via San Tomaso 1970

Włodzimierz Zakrzewski made this painting, Bergamo, Via San Tomaso, and the creamy whites, greys, and browns are put on so thick, it’s like he's building up a wall. The painting is so physical, you can almost feel the weight of the buildings, the cool dampness of the stone. I bet Zakrzewski felt it too, the sun moving across the buildings, the way the light shifts. I imagine him standing there, squinting, trying to capture not just what he sees, but how it feels to be there. Look at those short, choppy strokes. It reminds me a bit of Cezanne, how he built up form with these little dabs of paint. But Zakrzewski's got his own thing going on here. You can feel the energy in the brushstrokes, the way he's wrestling with the paint, trying to get it just right. Painting is a conversation across time and place, like Zakrzewski is speaking to Cezanne, and I'm speaking to them both. It’s never about getting it ‘right’ but about discovering something new in the process.