Shrovetide 1916

Boris Kustodiev made ‘Shrovetide’ with oil paint, but its surface is really matte, kind of dry, like a fresco. The whole picture is about snow, and looking closely, you can see how he’s used all these subtle blues, greys, and lavenders to make it feel cold and powdery. Everything’s rounded off and softened as if to indicate that a heavy blanket of snow has blotted out any hard edges. I particularly love the way the silhouettes of the trees are broken up by dabs of white that suggest clumps of snow clinging to the branches. This gives it an almost graphic feel. Kustodiev creates this feeling that the world is slightly out of focus or unstable. I see his work as part of a long conversation in painting that includes artists like Pieter Bruegel and, more recently, David Hockney. All of these artists are interested in how we see and how we can play with perspective to create a sense of depth and space. Ultimately, art is about experimenting with different ways of experiencing reality.