Venice 1916

Konstantin Gorbatov captured Venice with what looks like oil on canvas, a dance of browns, blues, and yellows. I imagine him, standing there, trying to capture the light bouncing off the water, the old buildings, that ever-changing sky. There’s something very personal about painting a place like Venice, so iconic, so seen. What does it mean to add your own mark to it? Maybe Gorbatov was thinking about all the other artists who’ve tried to capture its essence, maybe he was just trying to get the light right. See how he's layered the paint, thick in some spots, thin in others? Look at the little flicks of brown and yellow that make up the buildings, the blues and greens in the canal. Each stroke feels like a decision, a tiny act of translation. Painters are always in conversation, you know, with each other, with the past. And every painting is just one version, one feeling, of a place, a person, a moment. It’s not about getting it "right," but about finding your own way of seeing.