Portrait of F.I. Chaliapin 1921

Boris Kustodiev made this drawing of F.I. Chaliapin, probably in charcoal or graphite, maybe even conté crayon, all soft and smudgy. I love the casualness of this drawing. It's a portrait, but look at the looseness of the lines, the sketchy rendering of the Russian landscape, and the confident swagger of the subject! It's like Kustodiev's saying, "I got this," you know? He knows his subject so well that he doesn't have to belabor it. The dog on the bottom left is great too! It’s a quick sketch, capturing the essence of "dogness" without getting bogged down in detail. There's a real dialogue happening between artists, right? Kustodiev's work reminds me of some of the great portraitists like Sargent, but with a Russian twist. It shows how we're all in this ongoing conversation, sharing ideas and inspiring each other across time. It's a beautiful thing.