The works of Eugène Leroy, including the present painting from 1988, initially impress with the almost tactile quality of the paint application: oil paint layered in thick crusts, an abstract pattern of subtly coordinated tones. It is little surprising that the artist was deeply impressed by Rembrandt's famous "Jewish Bride," a painting in which the shimmering-abstract effect of the impasto paint application is virtually "preconceived" in exemplary fashion. Following these paths, which first opened up in Dutch Baroque, Leroy developed his outstanding opulent oeuvre that oscillates between figure and abstraction, and that won’t fit any "-isms". For the almost meditative effect of the image surface, the inspiring quality of the close-up view, offer a surprise moment at second glance: if one looks at Leroy's paintings intensively enough, the hidden motif suddenly shows itself. [EH]