Province (Kostroma) 1906

Boris Kustodiev made this painting, Province (Kostroma), with oil on canvas. I just love the dominant swathes of bright green and creamy white, it gives the painting a feeling of calm and warmth. I can almost feel the sun beating down, the artist must have been working at speed to capture that light. I imagine Kustodiev wanted to make a painting about life in the province, but not in a stuffy, formal way. The two figures standing underneath their parasols look like they're sharing secrets, like a still from a film, a fleeting moment in time. The artist must have felt quite sentimental about this place, the architecture is slightly wonky, but full of character! This piece reminds me of some of Fairfield Porter's paintings of everyday life, he was also working against the grain of abstract expressionism. Like Porter, Kustodiev had to look to the past to see the future. I see this piece as part of an ongoing conversation between artists across time.