Outskirts of the Village 1984

Victor Puzyrkov painted 'Outskirts of the Village' with what looks like oil paint, building this landscape from a limited palette of greens, browns, and yellows. I can imagine Puzyrkov outside, battling the elements, trying to capture the scene before him. Maybe the clouds were shifting, and the light kept changing, forcing quick decisions. Look at the way he's rendered the haystacks – thick impasto, capturing the texture of the straw. The road in the foreground is all puddles and mud, rendered with quick, gestural strokes. It is a sensory world, where the earth is wet and springy. I'm always drawn to how artists tackle the mundane. And Puzyrkov brings such a sense of observation to something as simple as a muddy field! You can see how the legacy of Impressionism lived on in Russian painting, and how artists continue to find new ways to represent the world around them. Painting is like a conversation through time!