Self Portrait 1901

George Washington Lambert created this self portrait in oils, and it's a study in contrasts. He's used a very limited palette, mostly earth tones, but the way he's applied the paint gives the piece so much life. You can really see the process, the way he's built up the image layer by layer. Look at the area around the eyes. See how the paint is thicker there, almost sculptural? It's like he's really digging into the canvas, trying to capture something essential about himself. Then notice the smooth, almost translucent quality of the shadows. The contrast is striking and it's what makes the piece so arresting. Lambert reminds me a bit of Van Dyck, actually, in the way he balances bravura brushwork with a real sensitivity to form. But there's something rawer, more immediate about Lambert's approach, like he's not afraid to leave the messiness of the process visible. And isn't that what art's all about, anyway?