Portrait of the painter Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky 1913

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky in 1913, and it feels like he was really working *at* the surface, trying to find something, shifting and improvising to find the guy. I sympathize with Repin here – the greyed palette, the gentle brushstrokes, the hat casting a shadow. I can imagine him thinking, how do I get to know this guy through paint? It’s like he’s slowly building up an idea. Look at the flower on his lapel – it’s just a dab of red, but it brings the whole painting to life. You can see he’s moving between the face, the hat, the flower, constantly adjusting. He's definitely in conversation with other portrait painters, playing with this balance between realism and expression. You know, painting isn't about perfection; it's about the process of looking and trying to capture something elusive. It's that openness that makes this painting so engaging.