Portrait of Ria (Portrait of A.A. Kholopova) 1915

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin painted this portrait of Ria in 1915 using oil on canvas. Look at how the red of her lips and cheeks seems to bloom from the pale surface of her skin, as though the blood is rising to meet the surface. In contrast, the background feels cool, a shifting landscape of lavender and grey where a face emerges as though from stone. I wonder if Petrov-Vodkin was thinking about sculpture when he painted this portrait, which feels so alive and yet so still, like a painted effigy. There’s a strong sense of form in this painting, a careful mapping of light and shadow to create a rounded, almost sculptural effect. Petrov-Vodkin’s brushstrokes are delicate and precise, building up the forms of Ria’s face and hair with great attention to detail. He’s part of a long conversation with artists like Modigliani and Picasso, each figuring out how to represent the human form in new and expressive ways. It’s this kind of exchange that keeps art vital and ever-evolving.