Portrait of the commandant of the Mariinsky Palace, Major-General Pavel Shevelev 1903

This is Boris Kustodiev's portrait of Major-General Pavel Shevelev, commandant of the Mariinsky Palace. Look at how the cool, muted blues of Shevelev's uniform contrast with the warmth of his skin tones and the red detailing. You can almost imagine Kustodiev’s hand moving across the canvas, building up the image layer by layer. I wonder, what was going through Kustodiev's mind as he worked? Did he feel a sense of duty to accurately portray the Major-General, or did he allow himself to be guided by his instincts, responding to the emerging image with each brushstroke? The buttons on the jacket seem almost randomly placed, yet they give the painting its structure. And is that a ghostly face lurking in the background? Like all artists, Kustodiev was in conversation with the painters who came before him, each artist building upon the discoveries and innovations of their predecessors. Painting is a constant process of questioning, experimenting, and learning, an ongoing journey of self-discovery.