Portrait of the writer D.L. Mordovtsev 1901

Boris Kustodiev made this portrait of the writer D.L. Mordovtsev with oil paints, and there is something in the way that the dark palette is offset by the white of the sitter's beard and the pale colours of the books behind him. It looks like he worked on this very fast. It's really lovely to see how Kustodiev lets the paint do its thing. Look at the way the beard is just a few strokes of white, and the way the books are stacked up behind him, almost like a wall of knowledge. The paint is quite thick in places, but also transparent. There is such a feeling of the hand in this painting. In particular, I like the way he has painted the sitter's left hand, which is resting on his leg. You can really see how the artist has captured the texture and form of the hand with just a few brushstrokes. Kustodiev reminds me a little of Vuillard, in his use of dark colours and his interest in the figure in interior spaces. But Kustodiev has a slightly rougher edge, a more immediate way of working. And that's what makes his paintings so alive and interesting, the way he embraces ambiguity and doesn't try to smooth things over.