Portrait of Professor N. P. Remizov 1955

Pyotr Konchalovsky captured Professor N. P. Remizov in oil on canvas, and what strikes me is the physicality of the paint itself. Look at the Professor’s jacket; the paint is applied so thickly, almost sculpted. It’s like Konchalovsky is building form, not just describing it. The colors are earthy, browns and grays, but there’s this underlying warmth, a human touch, in the way he blends them. It's about the act of seeing and feeling, not just recording. I’m drawn to the way the light catches the edge of the book in front of the Professor, those small but deliberate marks, suggesting pages filled with knowledge. It's a process of layering and adjusting, much like the accumulation of thoughts and ideas. It reminds me of Cezanne's portraits, where the sitter’s presence is almost secondary to the act of painting. Art is always a conversation, isn’t it? A back-and-forth between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers, each bringing our own ambiguities and interpretations.