Diana and Actaeon 1917

Zinaida Serebriakova made this painting, Diana and Actaeon, with oils, and the way she uses color feels so intuitive, like she’s letting the story emerge through the brushstrokes. Looking at this canvas, what strikes me is how the figures seem to rise out of the ground, out of the very materiality of the paint. The colors are earthy, the application, confident. The scene depicts the moment when Actaeon stumbles upon Diana and her nymphs. See how the blue tones are not just a background but a part of the emotional texture of the painting, setting an intense mood. And the way the figures are rendered so boldly, it's like Serebriakova is asking us to consider the rawness of the myth. This reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker, particularly in how both artists use the female form to explore themes of nature. Both embrace the ambiguity of the paint and allow for multiple readings.