Hurricane 1914

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin made this painting, ‘Hurricane’, using watercolour, and you can see how the marks are laid down in these planes of color, like tiles in a mosaic. It makes me think of artmaking as construction. The blues and greens are broken up by these bold red shapes which really jump out, they almost seem to be slicing through the landscape, adding to the sense of drama. Look at the figures. One is almost ghostlike, like a memory, while the other seems to be scrambling for safety. The way Petrov-Vodkin has used the watercolour is interesting, because he hasn’t blended the colors much, he’s let them sit next to each other. It reminds me a little of some of the Fauvist painters, like Derain, who were also experimenting with bold colors and simplified forms. But there’s something uniquely Russian about this painting too, a kind of raw energy and emotional intensity that stays with you.