Cockerel 1914

Here we have a scene painted by Natalia Goncharova. The medium is difficult to ascertain exactly, but I would imagine that it’s made with gouache or tempera. The surface quality seems matte and chalky, almost like fresco. There is something about the way she lays down the different pictorial elements that makes me think of the stage, which makes sense, given she also worked as a stage designer. The red and yellow are striking, and the surface has a dryness that gives it a very elemental, earthy quality. Look at the group of figures in the foreground. See how she uses simple blocks of colour to suggest the folds and shapes of their robes. She builds up form with flat planes of colour, creating a real sense of depth and space, even in such a stylized composition. As for influences, there's definitely something of Matisse here, but filtered through a Russian sensibility.