Velimir Khlebnikov 1910

Editor: Right now, we're looking at Mikhail Larionov's 1910 oil painting, "Velimir Khlebnikov." What immediately grabs me is the subject's intense focus on the text he's reading, and the sort of raw energy of the brushstrokes. The whole piece vibrates with a sense of inner life. What's your read on this one? Curator: Vibrates is the word, doesn't it? This painting, for me, it's a doorway. Look at how Larionov renders Khlebnikov, a poet of immense experimental energy; it’s like catching a glimpse of the future crackling in the air! He paints not just a man, but the restless spirit of avant-garde thought, a certain beautiful, anxious, striving forward into who-knows-what. Notice how those bright colors seem to fight each other – a reflection, maybe, of Khlebnikov’s own wrestling with language, pushing against its limits. Editor: That idea of 'crackling energy' really clicks for me, I hadn’t put it together that way. But, do you think the slightly distorted features are meant to tell us something specific about Khlebnikov's personality? Curator: Specific...and yet universally human? Perhaps! What's so magical about a portrait is how it makes us look; look not just *at* someone, but *into* them – and perhaps, in turn, into ourselves. And what did you make of the open pages of script? Are they windows? Mirrors? Editor: Good question. It almost makes you want to decipher them! I see now how the painting is not static but rather alive. Thank you! Curator: Indeed! The painting is a dialogue; let’s remember to listen carefully, and, who knows, we may come to see things anew.