Portrait of N. Svendonskaya 1915

Aristarkh Lentulov painted this portrait of N. Svendonskaya with oil, and it feels like a love letter to color. The painting is not about rendering some perfect likeness but exploring how colors push and pull against each other. It’s a total process! Look at how the yellow ground clashes with the purple shadow around her head. See the little orange flowers splattered across her dress like confetti? Each mark seems joyfully, deliberately placed, creating a harmony, even in disharmony. Lentulov has rendered her hands as a simple brown oval, almost like a prop or a placeholder. It's a simplification that brings a kind of raw honesty to the portrayal, prioritizing feeling over form. I’m reminded of Matisse, who wasn’t afraid to let color sing its own song, even if it meant bending reality a bit. Just like in painting, life is about embracing the unexpected and finding beauty in the mix.