Novgorod. Detinets. 1925

Pyotr Konchalovsky captures a waterside scene in ‘Novgorod. Detinets.’ with oil on canvas, a dance of brushstrokes building up the old Russian city. The painting feels as if it came together through layers. Check out those juicy greens and the ochre wall. There's a real energy in the way the forms emerge, like he’s figuring it out as he goes. I wonder what it was like to stand there, feeling the breeze and capturing the light on the water. I like the way he’s handled the boats in the foreground. The mast acts like a lightning rod to the sky. It makes me think about painters like Gustave Courbet and his seascapes. There is a shared love for the materiality of paint, and how a simple gesture can communicate so much. Painting is this ongoing conversation, right? We’re all just riffing off each other, trying to make sense of the world one brushstroke at a time.