Portrait of Princess Evdokia 1912

Ivan Mrkviсka painted this portrait of Princess Evdokia with what looks like oil on canvas and I can imagine the painting emerging, stroke by stroke. I wonder what it was like for Mrkviсka to paint someone in such finery? Did he feel intimidated by the princess’s status? Or was he more interested in the challenge of capturing the details of her crown and jewelry? You can see how the paint is thinly applied here, almost translucent in places, giving the portrait an ethereal quality. Look at the way he painted the light reflecting off the pearls – it's so delicate! Painters are always looking at other painters, and it’s interesting to think about who Mrkviсka might have been looking at when he made this. Maybe some of the old masters, or perhaps some of his contemporaries who were also painting portraits of royalty. There’s always this conversation happening across time, where artists are riffing off each other’s ideas, pushing things in new directions. Painting is like that, always open to new possibilities, new ways of seeing the world.