Autumn Motive 1986

Victor Puzyrkov made this landscape painting with oil on canvas, and I can only imagine the mix of intention and chance that went into it. The way the brushstrokes build up the layers of color, it's like he's not just painting what he sees, but what he feels being there. I can almost feel the cold dampness in the air, the kind that comes before everything freezes over. The paint isn’t too thick, but it’s applied with such energy, it gives the scene a vibrating kind of life force. Look at that little hut with the chimney. It's so sturdily rendered, sitting there like a silent observer. Maybe it's a metaphor for Puzyrkov himself, contemplating nature, trying to capture it, but knowing it’s always slipping away. I see echoes of the great Russian landscape painters like Levitan, but with a rawer, more personal touch. Artists build on the past, and make it new, right? They’re all just talking to each other across time. And hopefully, inspiring us too.