Senegalese soldier 1928

Zinaida Serebriakova's 'Senegalese Soldier' is a portrait done in pastel, and it's all about the touch. Look how the marks aren't trying to hide! You can see the dusty bloom of the pastel, almost like she's drawing with pure pigment. I love how the red of his hat just *pops*, a solid block against the scumbled, almost hurried marks everywhere else. It gives the whole thing this lovely, unfinished energy, like the moment is still unfolding. The soft lines around the eyes and mouth, those gentle shadows, they give him this quiet dignity. And the way the white of his uniform is built up from layers of grey, brown and black – not a clean, flat white, but a living, breathing one. It reminds me of Degas, his pastels, the way he captured fleeting moments with such tenderness and immediacy. There's a real connection here to Impressionism, in this spirit of experimentation and a willingness to let the process show.