Autumn. Fog 1908

Arkhyp Kuindzhi painted ‘Autumn. Fog’ with oil paint, and somehow he made it feel like watercolor. The color palette is all muted and softened, like the world after a rainfall. Look at the way the paint is dragged across the surface, especially in the foreground; you can almost feel the grit and texture of the earth. It is incredible how he uses thin washes and scumbles to create depth and atmosphere. Notice how the figures are just suggested, becoming almost ghostly apparitions in the mist. It’s this feeling of transience, of being in between places, that makes the piece so compelling to me. Kuindzhi was a master of light and atmosphere, and though I’m more familiar with his later, brighter works, this piece feels like a quieter, more personal exploration of the natural world. It reminds me of Corot, with its muted tones and poetic sensibility. It’s as if he captured not just a landscape but a feeling, an echo of a moment in time.