Frosty Morning 1913

Boris Kustodiev painted this dreamy winter scene, Frosty Morning, on canvas with oil paint. It’s a scene of Russia transformed by snow, light, and gesture. Look at the way Kustodiev constructs the scene with these big, confident strokes of paint. He's not trying to trick us into thinking we're looking at a photograph. Instead, he shows us how he's feeling with a heightened colour palette. The cool blues and whites of the snow against the golden yellows and greens of the buildings is such a strange combination but it really evokes the feeling of walking around on a bright, cold day. My eye is drawn to the way the artist renders the texture of the snow-covered trees. Each branch is lovingly daubed with thick, textural paint. There’s so much generosity in his process and how he applies the paint. It makes me think of someone like Pierre Bonnard, who was also fascinated by the magic of colour and light. For both artists, painting is not just about representation, it’s about emotion and a deep connection to the world around them.