У Мельницы. 1910

Vitold Byalynitsky-Birulya captured this village scene with oil on canvas. Imagine him outside, his vision framed by the simple structures. The bridge, rendered in strokes of grey and brown, becomes a passage. Each dab of paint, a decision, building form through color and texture. I bet the artist squinted his eyes at the scene, really trying to figure out what it was all about. It reminds me of when I try to paint something real, and how it’s more about feeling than copying. Those houses – like shapes or thoughts. The artist probably thought, ‘How do I make them feel solid, and also a little dreamy?’. The whole work sits in that space between what we see and what we feel, the way the artist saw and felt the world. Like a conversation with other painters, a quiet moment of seeing, rendered in strokes and tones.