A Peasant Women 1904

Filipp Malyavin's *A Peasant Women* is a vibrant oil painting full of raw energy, where the process of making feels almost as important as the subject itself. The painting's surface is alive with texture, a testament to Malyavin's vigorous brushwork. Thick strokes of fiery red and earthy browns collide, creating a sense of dynamic movement. The red is so dominant, it almost feels like the women are dissolving into pure colour. I am drawn to the way he handles the folds of their garments – look closely and you can see each stroke, each dab of paint, building up the form. It reminds me of Chaïm Soutine, and how he’d let the paint itself become the subject. Malyavin is not just representing the women, he is also revelling in the materiality of paint, embracing the ambiguity and open-endedness that it allows.