Woman with Guitar 1913

Aristarkh Lentulov painted this portrait of a woman with a guitar using a palette knife and bold color. I can almost imagine him standing back, squinting, and then applying the paint with firm conviction. The woman is arranged with a guitar in a playful composition. It seems that Lentulov wasn’t afraid to push the boundaries of representation. The pink of her dress contrasts with the green and blue in a way that is both jarring and harmonious. I can imagine him thinking about Picasso and Braque, trying to figure out his own version of Cubism. There is a naivety about the way the paint has been applied. I like how each color creates a facet of the painting, and I think that he was probably excited about how the picture slowly emerged. You can tell that it comes from looking and feeling rather than thinking. It’s a lovely and intriguing painting.