Frosty evening (Sofia Kiyiv) 1992

This painting of Sofia Kiyiv, or Kyiv, was made by Yuriy Khymych at an unknown date using delicate strokes of blue and grey. I imagine him there, outside, on a frosty evening, observing the church, and mixing the colours on his palette, the blue of the domes with the blue of the snow, and the setting sun. What do you think he was thinking? I mean, to be there, to be present with that building. It makes me want to be there too, or to make something equal to that kind of looking. Look how Khymych uses colour to suggest depth and distance! It's like he’s inviting us to consider the play of light on the building, the weight of the stone, and the almost spiritual presence of the architecture. It reminds me of other artists who’ve painted cities, like Lyonel Feininger, finding the poetry in urban landscapes. Painting is all about that exchange, about artists seeing each other, building on each other’s visions.