Type of settlement 1905

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin made this painting, Type of Settlement, with oil on canvas, probably en plein air. The colours are muted - tans, greens, and greys - and applied with visible brushstrokes. I wonder what it was like to stand where Korovin stood, watching the settlement emerge from the landscape. The paint is applied so directly, like a translation of what he saw and felt onto the canvas. He must have mixed the colours on his palette, adjusting them just so, before laying them down with conviction. I can see him stepping back, squinting, then adding another stroke. It’s like a dance between perception and action. And what about that cross, standing stark against the horizon? It brings to mind the paintings of Van Gogh, who also captured the essence of rural life with such sensitivity. Painters are always in conversation, aren’t they? Sharing and building on each other’s insights. We all borrow from one another; that’s how art grows. Ultimately, painting is a way of seeing, thinking, and feeling, all at once.