Portrait of Y.E. Kustodieva with daughter Irina 1908

This is a portrait of Boris Kustodiev’s wife and daughter in a domestic setting. It’s all oil paint, of course. I love to imagine artists in their studios, totally absorbed, and I wonder what Kustodiev was thinking when he made this? The surface feels worked and re-worked – you can see how the layers of paint create this depth. He's used greens and browns to make the wall – it's a simple backdrop, but the way he applies the paint gives it so much texture. The brushstrokes are visible. It must have taken a long time! I’m drawn to the way he painted the mother’s dark dress – it’s almost like a void, but it’s also so full of detail. I feel like Kustodiev is having a conversation with artists like Vuillard, Bonnard, or even Manet – painters who also made intimate portraits of their families, their lives. Painting is just like that – an ongoing conversation across time. It's about expressing something, even if it’s ambiguous, and leaving space for others to interpret.