Horses in the storm 1918

Boris Kustodiev made this painting, Horses in the Storm, with oil on canvas. The clouds are rendered with these big, almost cartoonish daubs of blue and white, like he’s piling the sky up in scoops. I love that, the kind of carefree, almost slapdash way he’s making marks. And look at how the rain is just these vertical streaks, all blurry and drippy. The paint isn't too thick, but you can totally see the brushstrokes. It's like he wanted you to know this was made by a human, not just some perfect, slick surface. There's this one spot, right above the horses, where the light is breaking through the clouds. It’s just a few strokes of peachy-yellow, but it brings the whole painting to life. Kustodiev reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, with that same bold, kind of folk-art sensibility. It's like they're both saying, "Hey, art can be messy and still be beautiful."