Sunflower 1909

Here, we have Egon Schiele’s ‘Sunflower’, probably made with oil on paper. Look at the way Schiele lays down the colours; you can almost feel him making the painting, figuring out how the image comes together. It's not about perfection, but the process, the back-and-forth, like life itself. What strikes me most are those leaves, a riot of browns and greens, outlined in this scratchy dark contour. It's like he's mapping out their edges, defining their space. The paint is thin, almost transparent in places, letting the paper breathe. And then, the way he's handled the background, that pale pink… It’s not just a backdrop; it’s alive, almost like skin, adding a weirdly human touch to this very plant. Schiele makes me think of Van Gogh, not just because of the sunflowers, but because of that intensity, that relentless need to capture something essential. But while Van Gogh is all swirling energy, Schiele is more about the raw, unvarnished truth. Art isn't about answers; it's about questions.