Winter Landscape 1922

Konstantin Gorbatov's "Winter Landscape" is made with oil on canvas. I love to imagine Gorbatov standing outside in the snow, painting this scene. You can almost feel the cold in the blues and purples he uses for the shadows on the snow. The way the light hits the buildings—especially that yellow one in the distance—it's like a spotlight in the midst of winter. It's interesting how he varies the brushwork, the strokes are soft and blended, and how the texture and color are kind of thick with little peaks. Makes me think about what other artists were up to at the time, maybe some of the Impressionists and their ideas about light. It’s like Gorbatov is having a conversation with them, showing how light transforms a simple winter scene into something magical. It reminds me of how we, as artists, are always in dialogue, pulling from the past to create something new.