Man Head 1897

Konstantin Makovsky painted this head of a man in oils, sometime around the turn of the 20th century. Consider the man’s exotic appearance. The fur garment, dark complexion, and wild hair mark him as an “other” within the context of Imperial Russia. Makovsky was known for his orientalist paintings that brought the people and customs of faraway lands into the parlors of the Russian elite. Makovsky belonged to a generation of academic painters who turned away from social realism, emphasizing the beauty of the image and the skill of the artist above all else. In a deeply unequal society such as Tsarist Russia, the question remains: did this style of painting empower or exploit its subjects? To truly understand this artwork, we need to consider the politics of representation, the hierarchies of power, and the historical conditions of its production. Only then can we appreciate the complex relationship between art and society.