Sorrento. Grave of Sylvester Shchedrin. 1924

Pyotr Konchalovsky made this painting of Sorrento, the grave of Sylvester Shchedrin, using oil paint. Look at the way those buildings emerge from the hill, Konchalovsky applies the paint thickly, creating a textured surface that mirrors the rough, sun-baked surfaces of the Italian landscape. You can almost feel the heat radiating from the canvas. I imagine Konchalovsky standing before this scene, squinting in the bright Mediterranean light, quickly laying down strokes of ochre, burnt sienna, and touches of cool blues to capture the light. The brushwork is lively and immediate, imbuing the buildings and hillside with a sense of dynamism, as if they are alive and breathing. He wasn’t trying to render the scene realistically, but rather capture its essence, its atmosphere. Konchalovsky seems to be in conversation with the impressionists like Cezanne, and I think it’s because painters like these offer us a new way of seeing and experiencing the world.