The First Snow on the River 1915

Konstantin Gorbatov made this painting of the first snow on the river at an unknown time with oil on canvas, and he did it with such loose, gestural brushstrokes! Looking at the surface, you can see how he’s applied the paint quite thickly in places, especially in the reflections on the water. There’s something about the way he captures the light hitting those boats that feels so immediate, like he painted it in one go. I love how the colors mix and blend right there on the canvas. Notice the little pops of red on the flags against the muted tones, which provide little accents, that he then echoes in the reflections. It reminds me of the way some of the Impressionists worked. But then, if you look closely at the buildings in the background, they feel almost dreamlike. This dreamy quality also reminds me of the earlier work of someone like Edvard Munch. It's like he’s not just showing us a scene but also a feeling. Art, at its best, gives us a feeling, and allows us to consider ambiguity over fixed meanings.