Portrait of the composer Sergei Prokofiev 1934

Pyotr Konchalovsky painted this portrait of Sergei Prokofiev, probably in oil, sometime in the early 20th century. It feels like a moment captured, like he was just hanging out in the woods, maybe working. I love that Konchalovsky let us see the painting process. Look at the way he handled the surface, really physical with it. It is thick in some places, almost like he was sculpting with the paint, then thin and transparent in others. Check out the blues in his pants. There's this looseness, especially in how the color varies across the surface. It’s kind of a funny color, not quite believable, but the painting makes up for it with other things. It's like he's saying, "I'm not trying to fool you, I'm just showing you how I see him." Konchalovsky reminds me of someone like, maybe, Alice Neel in the way he captures the essence of a person without getting bogged down in the details. Art isn't about perfection, it's about having a conversation.