Composition With Two Figures 1962

Hryhorii Havrylenko created this image with watercolor, and maybe some ink, on paper. The composition is built with layers of transparent colour that come together like a stained-glass window, though there is a lightness of touch that keeps it open and airy. The thin black lines, drawn with real precision, add definition to the two figures. The overall palette is soft, with muted blues, pinks and yellows giving the painting a dreamlike feel, while the carefully placed lines add structure, suggesting the artist is thinking of Cubism. Look at the gentle curve of the smaller figure’s neck, and how the artist has given it form with a thin shadow of pink. There is something very touching about the image – it feels vulnerable, like a half-remembered memory. There’s something of Modigliani in the elongated forms of the figures, and in the way Havrylenko is thinking about geometric abstraction. Ultimately, the image remains ambiguous and deeply personal.