Nizhny Novgorod 1925

Aristarkh Lentulov painted this landscape, Nizhny Novgorod, with oil on canvas. The fractured planes of color, like stained glass, push and pull the architecture, playing tricks with the eye. It feels like Lentulov wants to break the world down into its component parts, only to reassemble them into something new, almost musical, like a Cubist symphony of color. Look at how he uses these sharp, angular shapes to define the buildings. It's not about realism; it's about capturing the essence, the vibe of this place. Notice the sky, a riot of peach and lavender. It's as if Lentulov wanted to show us how color alone can express the feeling of a place. There’s something about the flattened perspective and bold color choices that reminds me of Sonia Delaunay's simultaneous contrasts, that idea of pure color as a language of its own. It makes you wonder: what would happen if we saw the world through a prism of pure feeling?