Ukrainian peasant girl 1902

Vladimir Makovsky made this watercolor and graphite portrait of a young girl, and it feels like a fleeting encounter, doesn’t it? I can imagine him sketching quickly, trying to capture her gaze before she looks away. It is a subtle, quiet piece, with soft washes of color and delicate lines defining her features. The texture is smooth, almost like skin itself, but you can see the grain of the paper coming through too. Look how he's used warm pinks and browns to bring her face to life, contrasting with the cooler grays and blues in the background. I bet Makovsky was thinking about the way light falls on her face, or the way her eyes seem to hold both innocence and a hint of world-weariness. It is these kinds of exchanges between artists across time that keeps painting alive, with each artist adding their own voice to the ongoing conversation.