Indian Girl With A Doll 2020

Aleksander Belyaev painted this oil on canvas artwork, “Indian Girl With A Doll.” I see the kind of brushwork that suggests the artist paid real attention to the details. It’s representational painting, but it flirts with impressionism, especially when it comes to capturing the light and how it reflects on the ground. I wonder what Belyaev was thinking when he made this work? Was it about representing childhood or was it intended to make a political statement? Did the artist and the sitter know one another? How did Belyaev try to interpret the sitter's state of mind and experience? The doll itself is interesting, the textures are so different from each other. The red almost vibrates off the canvas. Ultimately, it’s that little girl's expression, that pout, that makes me want to keep looking at this piece.