Hurricane 1914

‘Hurricane’ is a painting made by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, we don't know exactly when. Looking at it, you can imagine the artist with his board and paints capturing the scene in the open air and rendered with bold strokes of blue and red. I can imagine Petrov-Vodkin was striving to capture the chaotic energy of a storm, or the moment just before it breaks; figures caught in dynamic poses, as if tossed by unseen winds, a snapshot of nature's raw power. Those angular shapes and contrasting colors almost feel like the landscape itself is fracturing around the figures. I wonder if the artist was inspired by Russian avant-garde movements such as Cubism, and his own commitment to conveying emotion and lived experience. The way he used layering and distortion maybe reflects a deeper interest in the psychological impact of such extreme weather. Artists are often in conversation, looking at each other's work from all different eras, working through common problems – it’s all about embracing the ambiguity and uncertainty of the moment, letting things unfold, rather than trying to control everything.