Katya at the kitchen table 1923

Zinaida Serebriakova made this painting, *Katya at the kitchen table*, using watercolour. See the thin washes of colour that describe light and shade. Imagine the artist in her kitchen, observing the scene before her: the russet shades of the onions and potatoes, the creamy, translucent surface of the jug. She delicately evokes the everyday world of domestic labour. I can imagine her thinking that the colours and shapes of kitchen objects are as worthy of artistic attention as a grand landscape or portrait. The girl’s face is subtly realised with the softest of pinks in her cheeks and a delicate outline of her features. She is lost in thought, while on the table before her, the mundane objects of the kitchen become a meditation on form and colour. I see a connection to the work of French painters like Bonnard, who also found beauty and mystery in humble, domestic scenes. Serebriakova reminds us that the act of seeing is always an act of interpretation.