Frosty evening (Sofia Kiyiv) 1992

Yuriy Khymych made this picture of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine with what looks like tempera or gouache on paper. You can almost feel the cold in the blues and grays he uses to depict the architecture, and the way the sky is left bare feels very open and unfinished. What I find really interesting is the heavy linework that defines each form. It's not exactly naturalistic, but it gives the building a kind of graphic power. There's a certain flatness to it, like a colored-in drawing, yet the tonal modulations of the walls and roofs create depth. Notice how Khymych leaves these deliberate smudges of pigment at the bottom of the frame? It's as if he's allowing the process to remain visible. Reminds me a little of Milton Avery, with its pared-down shapes and a focus on mood over detail. I love that the work embraces this ambiguity.