Portrait of the Regisseur Alexander Tairov 1920

Aristarkh Lentulov made this portrait of Alexander Tairov using bright colours and bold shapes. Can you imagine Lentulov at work, layering those brushstrokes to build up the image? The colours pulse with energy, with reds, whites, and blues fragmenting form. The paint isn't too thick here, but you can feel the artist's hand in the way each block of colour is placed. Look at the way Lentulov renders the hands, the jagged, angular strokes suggesting tension. What was Tairov thinking, what was he like? The painting doesn't tell us, but it gestures toward something emotional and internal, something that might connect to the artist and the sitter’s creative practices. Lentulov was part of the Russian avant-garde, experimenting with form and colour in ways that were totally new at the time. His work makes me think about how artists are always pushing boundaries, trying to capture something beyond the surface of things. Painting is like that, it’s an ongoing conversation.