Portrait of Prince Vladimir Baryatinsky 1909

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Prince Vladimir Baryatinsky sometime around 1909 in oil on cardboard. What I notice first is the limited palette. The artist plays with variations of brown, tan, and a little bit of white. It’s like a tonal dance, a quiet hum of color. The surface has a kind of matte, dry quality, especially in the background. It feels like the paint was applied thinly, almost like a stain or wash, allowing the texture of the cardboard to peek through. Then you have these concentrated areas, like the face and especially that magnificent moustache, where the paint is a little thicker, more opaque. Look at the way he suggests the light hitting the Prince’s face with these dabs of pale color. It’s not about perfection or realism, it’s about capturing a sense of presence, a feeling. It reminds me a little of Whistler, this interest in mood and atmosphere. Both artists see art as a way of capturing a fleeting moment or emotion. It's that sense of art being less about the thing itself and more about how we see and feel it.