Still Life. Red tray and ash. 1947

Pyotr Konchalovsky made this painting, *Still Life. Red tray and ash.* using oil on canvas. Wow, there’s so much to look at here! The red tray sits against a backdrop of swirling red and white patterns. There are thick strokes of paint; you can see how the artist built up the surface, layer by layer. It makes you think about the physicality of painting, the way the artist must have moved the brush across the canvas, deciding where to apply more pressure, where to let the paint glide. I can only imagine what Konchalovsky was thinking as he juxtaposed the sharp, clean lines of the tray with the organic, flowing shapes of the fruit and flowers. Was he trying to capture a moment of harmony, or was he more interested in the tension between these different forms? I think painting is all about this process of questioning, exploring, and trusting your intuition to guide you. It's like a conversation between you, the paint, and the world around you, and I see that conversation here.