Akaky Akakiyevich returned from the party 1905

Boris Kustodiev made this atmospheric image, ‘Akaky Akakiyevich returned from the party’, in charcoal. It’s a great example of how mark-making can evoke a whole mood. Look at the way Kustodiev uses charcoal to build up a scene full of texture and shadow. The marks aren't blended smoothly; instead, you can see the grain of the charcoal, giving the image a raw, almost ghostly quality. The figure’s cloak is rendered with thick, dark strokes, contrasting with the lighter, smudged areas that suggest the snowy ground and the glow of the street light. There’s a real physicality to the medium, as if Kustodiev is really leaning into the paper to capture the damp, cold night air. Notice the soft halo around the light in the distance and how this contrasts with the sharp dark mark used to create the lamp post to the left. This piece is reminiscent of the kind of dark night scenes that Edvard Munch was producing at the time, only with a different emphasis. For Kustodiev, as with Munch, art is not about certainty, but about exploring the many ways we see and feel the world.