Still Life with Mirror 1958

Victor Puzyrkov made this oil painting, called Still Life with Mirror, sometime in the 20th century. What grabs me about Puzyrkov’s touch is how he loads up the paint – it’s juicy, almost edible. He teases out these soft, fluffy flowers from a mass of pigment, kind of like how a sculptor coaxes form out of clay. Look at how he builds up the impasto on those pink and white petals; the texture alone gives them so much life, so much volume. The way he handles the color is interesting, too. Everything seems to be composed of several colors with this beautiful green table cloth. This reminds me of artists like Bonnard, who weren’t trying to replicate reality but to translate it into pure feeling. Puzyrkov makes me think about what painting is for – not to capture a perfect likeness, but to explore the world through a conversation with materials. It's like he's saying, "Let's not just look at flowers; let's feel what it’s like to build them with our hands."