Portrait of O.I. Rybakova in childhood 1923

Zinaida Serebriakova captured O.I. Rybakova’s likeness with pastel on paper. Imagine the artist gently coaxing the colors from the sticks, blending with a finger, and then standing back to assess. She's feeling her way, I'm sure, and that’s how the painting comes to life. I wonder if Serebriakova was thinking about how to balance the soft, diffused light on the girl's face with the stark, almost abstract darkness in the background. What was it like, painting someone so young? Did she sense a responsibility to capture not just her appearance, but also her spirit, her potential? Look at the simple lines of the girl’s blouse, and then see how they contrast with the small painting on the wall behind. There’s a conversation happening here, echoing across generations of painters who look, learn, and keep the dialogue going.