Tony Scherman b. 1950

The magical transformation that takes place in an image as one slowly approaches it until, at close range, it suddenly becomes not an image but a series of brushstrokes of pigments cleverly applied, is one that Sir Kenneth Clark pondered over all his life, and in particular as he inched up to Velazquez's Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour) in the Prado.

In using, and indeed perfecting, the tricky medium of encaustic, Scherman has pushed this process of moving from reality to illusion and back again to a new kind of frontier. This portrait of Napoleon is an excellent example of what we are now experiencing, which is something that is at once only brushstrokes and dribbles of pigment and wax, but also a highly realistic depiction of a face. By cutting off the right side of the face and plunging the left side of the face and the canvas in darkness, Scherman has created an eternal puzzle, an ambiguity, and a fascination for us to think about and revel in.

Another intriguing aspect of the painting could also be its powerful subject: Napoleon. What is he thinking, where is he, and what is it that has just done or is about to do?