The old milkmaid 1917

Boris Grigoriev's painting, *The Old Milkmaid*, shows us a weathered woman and a cow, rendered with earthy colors. I can imagine Grigoriev stepping back from the canvas, squinting, maybe tilting his head, coaxing these figures into existence. The way the woman's gaze meets ours, it feels like she’s seen a lot. Her skin, rendered in fleshy tones, tells a story of hard work and resilience. The cow, looming large, feels almost human with its big, blue eye. The sky is a weird and wonderful flat, blue field, a perfect backdrop to the figures in the foreground. There's a sensitivity here that reminds me of other artists, like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who were also drawn to the lives of rural people. But Grigoriev's touch is all his own. It reminds us that painting is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.