An old woman drinking tea 1914

Vladimir Makovsky painted this old woman drinking tea, probably in oil on canvas, sometime around 1914. Look at the way he's worked the paint, especially in the background – it’s all about the process of seeing and then describing. There's something about the texture here, isn't there? The impasto that builds up the folds of her dress, the way the light catches on the thick strokes. Makovsky isn't hiding anything; he’s laying it all out there for us to see, like a recipe for a great painting. The red and white in the bottom left are interesting. It's not just a tablecloth, it's a burst of energy that balances the quieter tones elsewhere. He really wants you to notice the small details. Makovsky’s everyday scenes remind me of Courbet. Not because they look alike, but because they share a focus on the here and now, on painting life as it is. The beauty is in the observation, not some grand statement, and I think that's pretty cool.