Portrait of Maximilian Voloshin 1924

Boris Kustodiev made this portrait of Maximilian Voloshin, using oil paints, sometime in the early 20th century. I can just imagine Kustodiev facing his canvas, maybe a bit daunted, and then diving in. See how the blues and browns build up the figure against that hazy, mountainous backdrop? It’s like the landscape is both inside and outside of Voloshin. The way Kustodiev handles the paint is pretty incredible. Not too thick, not too thin, but just right, giving everything a sort of dreamy, solid presence. And that book Voloshin is holding! You can almost feel the weight of it in his hand, filled with stories and poems. I wonder what Kustodiev and Voloshin talked about while he was painting? Maybe art, maybe life, maybe just the weather. Whatever it was, it’s cool to think that their conversation is somehow still present in the painting, a little whisper between two artists across time.