Peterhof. Marley. 1931

Pyotr Konchalovsky painted this Peterhof landscape with watercolour. The process is visible here, you can see where the colours have been allowed to bleed into one another to create a sense of flow and movement. Watercolours can be unforgiving, so I like the freedom and lack of inhibition on display here. The palette is earthy but luminous with these russet browns and greens. It feels like late summer when the light is soft and everything shimmers. The surface has a delicate texture, the result of the paint interacting with the paper. Look closely at the reflections in the water, which mirror the architecture and surrounding trees. There is a gestural quality to the brushstrokes here, it’s almost as if the artist was trying to capture not just the appearance of the scene, but also its mood. Konchalovsky was part of the Jack of Diamonds group, a collective influenced by Cezanne, so it feels appropriate to consider this alongside Cezanne's watercolour landscapes. Ultimately, this painting offers a quiet invitation to slow down and enjoy the beauty of the world around us.