Picture of the carpet. Study for portrait of director Vsevolod Meyerhold. 1938

Editor: So, this watercolor and textile piece is titled "Picture of the carpet. Study for portrait of director Vsevolod Meyerhold." It’s from 1938 by Pyotr Konchalovsky. I find it so intriguing – it feels almost unfinished, raw. The carpet's vibrant colors contrast so sharply with the pale sketch of the figure above. What strikes you about it? Curator: Ah, yes. "Intriguing" is the perfect word. For me, it feels like a glimpse into Konchalovsky's process, a whisper of a grander idea. He was, after all, capturing Meyerhold, a theatrical titan, at a perilous time. Notice how the carpet is rendered with such attention, such love for pattern and color, almost as if it's a stage itself. Does the figure feel almost ghostlike, an echo, to you? Editor: Yes, exactly! A ghost. Why do you think he focused so intently on the carpet instead of the portrait? Curator: Perhaps the carpet offered a kind of solace, a contained world of beauty, amidst the anxieties of the Stalinist era. Meyerhold was, you know, a controversial figure, and would soon be arrested. It makes me wonder if the unfinished portrait reflects a reluctance, or perhaps even a fear, to fully commit to the image of a man already walking on thin ice. I wonder if this image ever transformed into something else... something perhaps that no longer survives. Editor: Wow, I hadn't considered that. So, the carpet almost becomes a stand-in, a safer subject? Curator: Precisely! A vibrant, beautiful, yet ultimately silent witness. The painting now speaks beyond the painting itself – of the relationship, of context, of art at risk. Editor: It really changes how you see it, understanding that context. I’ll definitely be thinking about that "silent witness" from now on. Curator: Excellent, because sometimes silence roars more than colour and light.