Flowers and Fruit 1912

Konstantin Korovin made "Flowers and Fruit" with oil on canvas, and you can almost feel the brushstrokes. The painting shimmers with light, the palette knife dancing over the surface. I imagine Korovin standing before the canvas, squinting, maybe stepping back, then lunging forward. He’s applying these strokes, not to copy the scene but to capture a feeling. I love the boldness of the application; the way the thick paint sits on the canvas. The violet shadows are especially striking, offset against the bright oranges and reds in the still life. It's a masterclass in color relationships. Thinking about his contemporaries like, say, Manet, you see a similar impulse— to push beyond mere representation towards something more felt, more alive. Each artist adds to the conversation, building on what came before. And that’s the beauty of painting, isn't it? This ongoing dialogue across time, where each canvas becomes another word in an ever-evolving language.