Portrait of Alexandre Popoff in a smoking jacket 1942

Zinaida Serebriakova’s ‘Portrait of Alexandre Popoff in a smoking jacket’ from 1942, is like a conversation between blues and browns. I can imagine Serebriakova working on this piece, balancing the cool blues of the smoking jacket with the warmth of Popoff’s skin and glasses. The blue has so much depth, it feels like a shimmering pool, reflecting the light in different directions. The surface looks soft and powdery, like pastel, so it might have come together quickly. The brushstrokes seem to caress the form, especially in the folds of the jacket. It makes me think about all the decisions she had to make. How much detail to include? How to capture the essence of Popoff’s character? What does it mean to really see someone? Painters are always in dialogue, echoing each other across time. Serebriakova probably looked at other portraits to figure out how to depict form and character, and to convey the complex and contradictory nature of human beings.