Portrait of a nurse 1907

Zinaida Serebriakova painted this portrait of a nurse with oils on canvas, and it feels like she started with a limited palette, maybe just a few reds, browns, and whites, and then let them mix and mingle right there on the surface. I love how the red of her blouse sort of hums against the muted background. Serebriakova’s brushwork is so present, you can almost feel the give and take of the bristles against the canvas. Look at how she renders the folds of the nurse's sleeves; the paint is applied in these loose, confident strokes that capture both the form and the texture of the fabric. The white of the apron is thick, like frosting, creating a contrast with the thinner paint in her face. There's a sense of empathy in this portrait, of seeing the person beyond the uniform. It makes me think of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who knew how to find the extraordinary in the everyday.