Tryptich, Central Part 1973

Dmitri Zhilinsky created this central part of a Triptych, using oil paint, and look at the texture he's achieved! It's like he's building the image out of tiny, deliberate strokes. The surface has a granular quality, almost like fresco, and those chalky, muted colors? They give the whole scene a dreamlike, slightly unsettling atmosphere, you know? I'm really drawn to the figure with his hands raised. There's a stark simplicity in the way he's rendered, yet he holds so much of the painting's emotional weight. It reminds me a bit of some of the stark interiors of Vilhelm Hammershoi but with a distinctly Russian sensibility. It’s not just about what we see, but how the artist makes us feel. Art is about the questions, not the answers.