Still Life 1915

Lyubov Popova made this painting without a date, though she has left clues for us. The painting feels like an archeological dig—a layering of form, texture, and graphic elements. I imagine her in the studio, working in monochrome, squinting, head cocked to one side, trying to find a composition amidst the objects that surround her. A plate perhaps? Is that a pair of glasses? What about those fragments of text that seem to surface, only to disappear again? I suppose Popova might have been looking at Braque and Picasso here, but she’s doing something else. The gray scale gives the painting such a lovely, muted atmosphere, which is cool and meditative. Painting is an ongoing conversation, and artists build upon one another’s insights all the time. Popova’s painting invites uncertainty. Like life itself, it can be interpreted in many ways, allowing for multiple meanings and perspectives.