Portrait of N.A. Kuznetsova 1919

Curator: The sensitivity of this piece gets me every time. We're looking at Boris Kustodiev's pencil drawing, "Portrait of N.A. Kuznetsova," created in 1919. It's disarmingly intimate. Editor: It has such a fragile, ethereal quality to it, doesn't it? Like a whispered secret captured on paper. You can almost feel the tenderness in the lines. I am thinking what this intimate glimpse communicates, as intimacy in the art world often functions like that whispered secret about the culture of the elite. Curator: Kustodiev was working during a tumultuous time in Russia. World War I was raging, followed by the Russian Revolution and the Civil War. One would ask oneself what Kuznetsova would symbolize during those changing, turbulent and revolutional times. Editor: The somber historical context enriches this. I think he's doing much more than just recording a likeness; the large bow in Kuznetsova's hair can be considered as either a tribute or indictment on beauty in those moments, considering the stark realism and social criticism common amongst Kustodiev's other works. How can it be that a beautiful woman is captured in these difficult moments in time. What is that relationship between the observer, the beauty, the times? Curator: Absolutely. Kustodiev battled tuberculosis for much of his adult life and spent extended periods in sanatoriums. Isolation can push an artist to create in novel, unforeseen, previously unexplored forms of beauty. Editor: I would only be able to imagine the isolation felt at those times! He turns inward and perhaps in his loneliness sought the inner beauty and gentleness of the sitter. Curator: The overall impact is something far greater than its components; his style, and medium choice, are the right ingredient for such creative piece to elicit this impact. What a beautiful portrait and moment, altogether. Editor: Yes. It has you considering so many complex realities. Kustodiev forces me to revisit these intimate glimpses throughout historical context of those revolutionary times! It is all in a great flux of wonder, curiosity and intimacy.