Peasant Girl 1906

Zinaida Serebriakova made this painting of a peasant girl with watercolor, and what strikes me is the way she lets the underdrawing peek through, almost like she’s thinking out loud. The colors feel so transparent, so light. I can almost feel the grain of the paper underneath. The reds in her skirt are poppy bright, and the roses on her blouse are like little explosions of color. But it's the way Serebriakova captures the light on the girl's face, the way she models it with such delicate washes, that really gets me. Look at how the shadow under her chin is built up with these incredibly subtle layers. It’s like watching her slowly come into focus. Serebriakova reminds me of Berthe Morisot, both were interested in capturing the fleeting moments of everyday life with a real freshness. And like Morisot, Serebriakova shows us that sometimes the most powerful art is the art that embraces its own vulnerability.