Portrait of Maxim Gorky 1940

Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky painted this portrait of Maxim Gorky, though I couldn't tell you exactly when or with what! The painting feels so rooted in process; like the artist allowed the act of looking and the act of painting to become one and the same. You can almost feel Bogdanov-Belsky feeling his way around the forms, especially in Gorky’s face and that killer mustache. There's this wonderful tension between the details that are crisply rendered, like the books in the background and the smudginess of Gorky’s jacket, or the way the planes of his face seem to dissolve into one another. It's kind of like life, you know? Some things are super clear, and others are just a blur. That hand holding the papers, for instance – the way it kind of fades out at the edges – beautiful. It puts me in mind of Vuillard, that sense of intimacy and the everyday, all that quiet contemplation. It's a reminder that art isn't about having all the answers, but about embracing the questions.