Capri 1903

Zinaida Serebriakova’s painting, Capri, offers us a slice of Italian life rendered in loose washes of color and sketched lines. It’s like she’s not just painting a scene, but also painting the feeling of being there, the heat and the shadows. The texture is so immediate; you can almost feel the rough stone under your feet. Look at the way she uses thin, transparent layers of paint to build up the walls and the archway. It’s not about perfection; it’s about capturing the essence. Then there’s that figure, tucked away in the shadows, a splash of red that anchors the whole composition. It's that particular red that really makes the painting sing. Serebriakova has this way of making you feel like you’re peeking into someone else’s world, like Vilhelm Hammershøi, but with sunnier weather. It's a reminder that painting isn't about showing us something, but about opening up a space for seeing.