Portrait of the Painter Karl Schou 1909 - 1913

Karl Isakson painted this portrait of Karl Schou with oil on canvas, but its more like oil *through* canvas, because the paint is so thin! The brushstrokes are like little scratches, hatching the surface to life. Look how the blues pull the figure forward, yet the background hums with oranges and reds, kind of flattening everything. I mean, is he sitting on the sofa or melting into it? That green cushion is the only thing holding him in place. I keep coming back to his face, the way it’s built from these gentle, almost apologetic marks. The red tie is this strange focal point that animates the whole picture. It’s like Isakson is saying, hey, this is a painting, but it’s also a feeling. There’s something about the rawness that reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, that same kind of searching, like the painting is a question more than an answer.