Ancient fortress 1902

Konstantin Bogaevsky made this painting of an ancient fortress, probably with oils. There's this great tension in the brushwork and colors. It's all done with a kind of loose, expressive handling of the paint. I imagine Bogaevsky must have worked on this for a long time. The painting looks like it has emerged slowly, with the fortress, rocks, and sea gradually finding their form. Look at the way the strokes of greens and whites build the waves. You can sense the power of nature here, see how the fortress rises up from the very land itself. I love the texture and the layering of paint in this piece. It reminds me of Courbet, and his paintings of the ocean – or maybe that’s just me? Anyway, it just goes to show, artists are always looking at each other's work and riffing on it! You feel the artist wrestling with the paint to find a way to express this raw, elemental scene. It’s less about a perfect likeness and more about capturing the feeling.