Untitled Compositions 1916

Lyubov Popova made this painting, which is one of her “Untitled Compositions,” with oil on canvas. I imagine it began with loose geometric sketches, then the filling in of colour; a dance of intuition and intention. There’s a lovely tension here between bold hues and linear frameworks. The colour palette feels so dynamic: yellows, blues, oranges, pinks, blacks and greys, each holding their ground. Popova lays down the paint with visible brushstrokes, some thick, some thin, creating a textured surface that invites you to look closer and linger a little longer. I wonder, was she aiming for pure abstraction, or trying to capture the essence of something real? Popova’s in dialogue with the Cubists, Futurists and Suprematists, but she’s doing her own thing, pushing beyond those confines. It’s like she’s saying, “I’ll take those ideas and run with them, see where they lead me.” And that’s what makes her work so endlessly compelling.