At a Noblewoman's, sketch for the ballet 'The Goldfish' by Ludwig Minkus 1903

Konstantin Korovin made this sketch for the ballet 'The Goldfish' in 1903, probably using watercolor, gouache, and charcoal on paper. It’s so evocative! You can almost hear the rustling of silk and the hushed whispers of the audience. The marks are dashed off, quick and sure, but they build up this incredible sense of depth and space. I love how the architecture of the noblewoman's room is suggested with these broad strokes of dark color, like charcoal, and then punctuated with pops of reds and greens. There’s a looseness here, a real feeling of process. You can see the artist thinking and rethinking right on the surface. Look at the way he suggests the crowd in the background with just a few dabs of paint. It's almost abstract, but somehow it captures the energy of a bustling scene. It reminds me a little bit of Manet, actually, in the way he uses these loose, gestural marks to create a sense of atmosphere and light.