Illustration to Sergey Yesenin's collection of poems 'Bird-cherry tree' 1970

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this illustration for Sergey Yesenin’s poetry collection using watercolor and pencil on paper. The delicate layers of pale yellow and blue-green hues create a serene atmosphere. Imagine Havrylenko, brush in hand, gently coaxing the scene into being. The thin washes of watercolor evoke a hazy, dreamlike quality, like a memory half-forgotten. Look at how he used the pencil to create faint vertical lines, suggesting the slender trunks of birch trees reflected in water. The horizontal bands break up the composition, creating a subtle rhythm that is both calming and slightly unsettling. I wonder if Havrylenko was thinking about the fleeting nature of beauty, the way light transforms a landscape in an instant. The careful marks remind me of Agnes Martin, whose quiet grids evoke a similar sense of contemplation. Artists, like poets, often reach across time and space, conversing with one another in their shared exploration of the world. Ultimately, painting invites us to pause, to feel, and to reflect on the many ways of seeing.