Merchant 1923

Boris Kustodiev painted this portrait, Merchant, and I can only imagine how the process of layering those brushstrokes must have been for him! I am intrigued by the deep blue of the Merchant's robe, it's like a comforting blanket. I imagine the artist trying to recreate that tactile sensation. Painting, you know, it's not just about seeing, it's about feeling too. Kustodiev's got this way of making you feel like you’re right there, in the thick of it, like you could just reach out and touch those pastries. He must have spent hours just looking and looking! That can be so meditative, almost like a form of prayer. I see a connection between his work and other painters who sought to capture something real, something human. In the end, it’s all one big conversation, this painting thing, artists talking to each other across time. It's like, what does it mean to be alive, to feel, to see?