Morning Tea 1917

Igor Grabar made this outdoor scene with oil on canvas, although there is no specific date for when it was painted. Look how Grabar has used small touches of paint to create an impression of light filtering through the trees. It’s all about process, about how the painting is made, that brings the scene to life. The texture is really key here; the artist has used a broken brushstroke, that means you can see all the individual marks that build up the image. It feels a little bit like you are looking at a pointillist painting by Seurat, but with more energy. The whole scene shimmers in the sunlight! In the white tablecloth, see how the flecks of blue and pink give it luminosity, it is not just flat, dead white paint, but alive with colour. It reminds me a little of Pierre Bonnard, although maybe with a slightly heavier touch. Ultimately, the painting seems less about a perfect rendering of a table laid for tea, and more about the dynamic energy of painting itself.