Portrait of Nikolai Evreinov 1915

Ilya Repin made this portrait of Nikolai Evreinov using oil on canvas, and wow, it's something! Just look at the way Repin laid down those strokes, all those dabs and dashes of paint. You can almost feel the artist working, trying to nail down the likeness, the personality, of the sitter. It's like Repin is wrestling with the paint, pushing and pulling it until it does what he wants. I wonder what Evreinov was like, sitting there for Repin. Was he patient? Did he fidget? And Repin, was he chatty, or all business? Look how the darks around the jacket sort of swallow up the form while the face is all highlights. When I look at it, I think of other portrait painters, like Sargent, but with a Russian soulfulness. It's like they're all talking to each other across time, these painters, riffing on the same themes, pushing the boundaries of what paint can do.