Portret van mijn broer 1907

Léon Spilliaert made this portrait of his brother with delicate washes of ink and watercolor. It’s all about the process here, the way the ink bleeds and pools, creating soft edges and subtle gradations. Look at how the artist captured the curve of the brow and the set of the mouth. There’s such a stillness in the figure. You can almost feel the weight of his thoughts. The paper he holds glows with an eerie light, casting long shadows across his face. Spilliaert’s brother is a study in concentration, in the quiet drama of interior life. It puts me in mind of Paula Modersohn-Becker, her simple portraits of those closest to her, rendered with such raw honesty. Art's like a conversation, after all; we're all just riffing on each other, trying to make sense of the world.