Expulsion of Adam and Eve, after Masaccio 1898

Magnus Enckell painted ‘Expulsion of Adam and Eve, after Masaccio’ using oil paint, a traditional medium allowing for rich color and smooth gradations. Look at the figures here, and the ways in which Enckell has built them up with layers of thin paint. The image feels like a memory, something half-erased. You can almost see the ghost of Masaccio's original fresco in the background. Oil paint demands a considered, deliberate approach. Each layer must dry before the next is applied, requiring patience and careful planning. Enckell has exploited this quality to give the figures a palpable sense of shame and vulnerability as they are banished from paradise, their bodies rendered with a soft, almost blurry quality. The painting's emotional depth arises from the way that Enckell has combined technique and subject matter, and by engaging with art history. He makes the painting a cultural artifact, rather than just a record of the artist's individual expression. This work challenges our assumptions about what 'fine art' can be.