Portrait of Alexander Golovin 1907

Boris Kustodiev made this portrait of Alexander Golovin using graphite, or something like it. Look how Kustodiev builds up the image with these quick, searching lines. You can see him thinking on the page, feeling his way around the form. It's all about the process, right? I love how the shading on Golovin's hair is just scribbled in, a dark mass, but then the lines defining his coat are so light they almost disappear. It's like Kustodiev is playing with the idea of presence and absence. I think of Picasso’s drawings and how they can be both incredibly precise and totally abstract at the same time. Each mark feels like a tiny decision, a little experiment in seeing. Ultimately, it’s not just a portrait of Golovin, it's a portrait of Kustodiev's own way of looking at the world. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, an exchange of ideas.