Lithuanian castle 1922

Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva made this drawing, titled Lithuanian Castle, using pencil, and a whole load of sensitivity. Look at the way she’s built up the scene with these tiny, delicate marks. There’s a real intimacy there, right? It’s like she’s whispering secrets about the castle and the water and the sky. The marks are so fine, but they’re doing a lot of work to describe the texture of the stone, the ripples on the water, the way the light is hitting everything. And then notice how she uses these marks to create depth. The buildings in the background are rendered with lighter strokes, while the bridge in the foreground is much darker and more defined. That contrast really pulls you into the scene, doesn't it? It’s like she’s inviting you to step right into that space and wander around. You get a sense of the castle's permanence but the transience of the weather that day, the artist's mood. This drawing reminds me of the work of Whistler, how he would use etching to capture these fleeting moments of light and atmosphere. Both artists share a similar appreciation for the beauty of the everyday, and a willingness to embrace the ambiguity of the world around them.