Portrait of Julia Ginzberg 1914

Olga Boznanska made this portrait of Julia Ginzberg with oil on canvas. It's such a vibe, right? I imagine Boznanska layered strokes of greens, browns, pinks, and blues, building the image through many, many adjustments. I love the dark wash of the lower part of the painting, and how it gives way to the soft, almost dissolving figure above. The brushwork is so present, you can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, trying to grasp the ephemeral quality of a person. What must it have been like, I wonder, to sit for this painting, to feel the weight of the artist's gaze? There’s something so vulnerable about portraiture, both for the subject and the artist. Looking at this, I can’t help but think about other painters like Whistler, or maybe Alice Neel, artists who were also trying to capture something essential about the human condition through paint. It reminds me that artists are always in conversation, riffing off each other's ideas, trying to push the boundaries of what painting can do.