Portrait of Ilya Bolotowsky 1930

William H. Johnson painted this portrait of Ilya Bolotowsky with thick, bold brushstrokes and a palette that's both vibrant and subdued. I can see the artist, brush in hand, circling the canvas, building up the face in layers. The paint is applied so generously, especially around the eyes and forehead, giving Bolotowsky a kind of luminous intensity. It's like Johnson is trying to capture not just a likeness, but something of the inner man. What was Johnson thinking as he built up that craggy face? Did he see a fellow traveler, a kindred spirit in the art world? There’s a real push-and-pull here, a tension between abstraction and representation that I find really compelling. Johnson knew what he was doing – he and Bolotowsky were part of a larger conversation about what painting could be, should be. It's like they're all egging each other on. Painting's an embodied form of thinking, embracing uncertainty.