Summer Afternoon 

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky’s ‘Summer Afternoon’ was created with oil paints, applied to canvas. While these are the traditional tools of painting, it’s worth considering how the artist used them to depict a rural scene and its inhabitants. The texture of the paint itself is relatively smooth, but Makovsky builds up the composition through layers of pigment. This is most evident in the tree’s trunk, where the play of light and shadow is carefully captured, or in the leaves, which are rendered with a sense of depth and movement. Look at the garments worn by the figures; their clothing suggests a level of detail and craftsmanship which indicates the social status of the characters. This piece can be seen to be an art of observation, as the artist carefully recorded the scene with accuracy and skill. Yet the painting also serves as a document, capturing a moment in the lives of ordinary people. Paying attention to the materiality and making of such a painting helps us see how artists, even in the most seemingly straightforward way, can make choices that have social and historical resonance.