Pierre-Auguste Renoir 2018

Andrey Allakhverdov made Pierre-Auguste Renoir with oil on canvas, and, look, there's a cat! You can feel the artist's hand in the way he's layered those strokes of black, white, red, and blue. It looks like it might have started with some thick, textured strokes, maybe even a little messy at first, and then the image began to emerge through trial and error. I can just imagine him standing in his studio, squinting at the canvas, trying to capture the energy of Renoir, but also making it his own. The paint is applied with different weights: the figures have been given form with thick, almost chunky textures, while other areas are thin and translucent. That little cat lapping up its milk is such a great touch. And the way the artist captures the human figures in the background with their faces is interesting, too. There’s something about that quick, almost dashed stroke that communicates the feeling of movement. I bet Allakhverdov was looking at other painters too, in his own community, in the past, maybe even me. It’s like we’re all just riffing off each other, trying to make something new out of what came before.