Jakob Schaffner 1925

This is a portrait of Jakob Schaffner by Nicola Perscheid. You know, sometimes I look at a picture and I try to imagine being the artist, and just being there, setting up the shot and trying to get the moment right! I wonder what Perscheid was thinking as he posed Schaffner, and how many shots they took? They’re constructing a persona, a carefully considered performance. The light catches his hand, the way it drapes on the chair, and the soft focus gives everything a kind of dreamy, untouchable quality. It makes me think about how much goes into making a painting; you start with just an idea, and then you're mixing colors, layering, and scraping. All those little gestures, mistakes, and happy accidents, end up on the canvas and become part of the story. It’s a constant conversation between you and the painting, where you’re pushing and pulling, until you feel like it’s finally found its voice. Like Perscheid, painters are always having a conversation with the past, building on what's been done before.