Portrait of Vsevolod Meyerhold 1916

Boris Grigoriev created this painting of Vsevolod Meyerhold using oil on canvas, and it’s a trip! Look at the way he’s built up the image with these broad, confident strokes. It's like he's wrestling the paint into submission. The texture is fascinating. Notice how the blacks of Meyerhold’s suit are thick and almost sculptural, contrasting with the flatter, more transparent passages of the background. See that smear of yellow near the bottom? It doesn’t seem to ‘belong’ but it holds the eye, like an unresolved chord in music. There is something about this guy’s confident swagger that reminds me of Picabia, who was also interested in these edgy portraits and pushing boundaries. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, with artists responding to and riffing off each other across time. It's not about answers but about keeping the questions alive.