Fortune with cornucopia (Outro) 1922

Boris Kustodiev made this pen and ink drawing called “Fortune with cornucopia (Outro)” and it kind of feels like it was scratched into being with real urgency. It's got that cross-hatching, frenetic energy that you see in other drawings, and the paper is raw and untouched, just the ink on the surface. Look at the figure, a sort of deity or angel, struggling to lift the cornucopia! I can almost feel the pen digging into the page as Kustodiev works, trying to pin down the image in his mind. I wonder if Kustodiev was hoping to capture some elusive vision of wealth. He's making marks, decisions, and it all just tumbles out, right onto the page. I think it’s a hopeful image, like a little spell to bring good things into being. This piece reminds me that drawing, like painting, is a way of thinking and feeling. It is about making something real, tangible, but also something that's open to change and interpretation.