Alexander von Zemlinsky 1908

Richard Gerstl’s portrait of Alexander von Zemlinsky is a real painterly feast, all whites and yellows, ochres and browns. You can almost feel him, Gerstl, dashing the paint onto the canvas, pushing and pulling at the figure until it almost disappears in the wash of light and colour. I imagine him, Gerstl, wrestling with this portrait, trying to capture not just Zemlinsky's likeness, but also his essence, his vibe. Look at the way he’s handled the cane, for instance. How it leans into the figure, adding both support and tension. The paint is laid on in strokes that are both confident and vulnerable, like he’s baring his soul with every brushstroke. He's part of a lineage of painters, like Klimt or Schiele, who weren't afraid to get messy, to dive headfirst into the physicality of paint. And in doing so, they invite us to do the same – to see beyond the surface and feel the raw, messy energy of creation.