Shrove-Tide 1919

Boris Kustodiev made this painting called Shrove-Tide, but we don’t know exactly when! The scene fizzes with all these frosty colours – the blues, the whites, and greens – it makes you imagine how the artist might have built it all up, touch by touch, figuring it out as he went. I wonder what Kustodiev was thinking? Maybe he was trying to soak up all the joy and energy of this winter carnival. Look at how the paint’s applied – not too thick, but still with a lot of body. That gives everything a kind of dreamy, soft quality, like you’re seeing it through a gentle snow flurry. And those horses pulling the sledges! They look ready to burst right out of the painting! Kustodiev painted other scenes of Russian life, so I think he was trying to grasp something deep about the culture. It's a bit like how painters like Pieter Bruegel the Elder looked at village life in the old days. Painting is like being in a big, long conversation, isn't it? Artists see what others have done and then add their own bit to the story. This painting is like an open invitation to see the world with new eyes, just like he did.