Family Portrait (Siena) 1912

Pyotr Konchalovsky made this large-scale family portrait, likely in 1912, judging by the signature, with oils on canvas. The pinks and greens feel so fresh, but there’s a kind of unease too. I wonder what it was like for Konchalovsky, setting up this scene? The dad in his dressing gown, the kids lined up, and his wife sat at the table. The kids look restless, but the mom looks calm. And what’s with that wine bottle on the floor, and the fruit, like a still life in the center. The paint is thick and juicy in places, especially in the faces, but flat and thin in the pink wall. Look how he's built the painting with these planes of color, almost like he's building a house of cards. There's so much experimentation here, of how to put people in a space. It reminds me of other painters, like Matisse and Derain, who were also trying to reinvent how we see the world. We, as artists, are all in conversation with each other, trying to push painting forward. What does it mean, to make a family portrait? What does it mean, to be a painter? These are the questions that I think Konchalovsky was asking himself, and us, with this painting.