Portrait of Prince Vladimir Baryatinsky 1909

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Prince Vladimir Baryatinsky in 1909 with a delicate hand, using thin layers of warm browns and creams. I wonder what Repin was thinking as he painted? The paint is so thin, almost like a watercolor, giving it an ethereal quality. I imagine him carefully layering the washes, building up the Prince's features bit by bit. Notice the way he renders the mustache, each strand meticulously placed, giving it a life of its own. It makes me think of other portraitists, like John Singer Sargent, who also captured the essence of their subjects with such sensitivity. This painting reminds us that artists are always in conversation, building on each other's ideas. What I love about painting is its ambiguity, it allows for so many different interpretations. There's no one "right" way to see it, and that's what makes it so exciting.