A rich peasant 

Curator: This is Filipp Malyavin’s painting, “A rich peasant”. Editor: Well, isn’t that… direct? She has this amazing gaze, like she's seeing right through my polite art appreciation veneer. And what’s with the finger? So brazen! Curator: Malyavin was associated with the Russian Avant-Garde. This portrait offers a critical view on representation and challenges conventional portrayals of class. It’s important to remember the social and political context. Who gets seen, who is elevated and who is ignored… Malyavin complicates the viewer's position. Editor: Complicates? It screams! It's wonderfully raw, almost violently expressive. That thick impasto – you can practically feel the energy he put into slapping that paint on the canvas! There's such an emotional charge to it, despite the pose. She's real, in a way a lot of more polished portraits aren’t. Curator: I think the use of the oil paint in almost sculptural applications enhances the themes he explores regarding the power dynamics in the painting, because he is portraying his subject unconventionally, so Malyavin’s choice is a confrontation. We must reflect on why a ‘rich peasant’ gets a portrait. And how does the art system legitimize representations and certain kind of figures? Editor: Confrontation is a great word for it. And look at those colours! It's like she's radiating pure, unfiltered life. You can practically smell the earth and feel the bite of a Russian winter just by looking at her. Forget idealized beauty, this is truth. Messy, unflinching truth. I admire the honesty. It also make you question what we really think about representations and class. Curator: It serves as a crucial commentary, unsettling any romanticized view. Considering the period's socio-political complexities, this is not merely a portrait, but a bold assertion of identity. Editor: Yes, the finger-in-the-nose really seals it, doesn’t it? Breaks all the rules, which is, maybe, the whole point. Thanks for making me think today, art.