Bather 1921

Boris Kustodiev made this drawing of a bather with pencil on paper. It's all about the cross-hatching, right? Thousands of little lines all building up to create form, light, and shadow. Think about all the decisions Kustodiev made, each stroke carefully placed, slowly building up this whole scene. The way he renders the tree on the right, it's almost like another figure in the landscape. And that figure, the bather, is so grounded. Look at how Kustodiev uses the density of the pencil marks to give her weight and volume. I'm particularly drawn to the fabric she's sitting on, those swirling patterns creating a sense of movement. It feels like a living, breathing thing. It’s worth looking at the work of someone like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was painting around the same time and also exploring the female figure in nature, though with a totally different vibe. It's all part of this big, ongoing conversation in art, you know?