Nude 1923

Zinaida Serebriakova made this drawing, Nude, with pastel. The sketchiness of the pastel feels immediate, like a thought captured in a flurry of marks. It’s all about the process, a dance between the artist’s hand and the paper. The pastel is powdery, almost fragile. You can practically feel the texture of the paper beneath, where Serebriakova hasn’t laid down much pigment. Look at the way she builds up the shadows with layers of blue, brown and black. It’s not about smooth blending, but about letting those colours vibrate against each other. See how the energy from the torso spirals up through the curve of the back? Serebriakova reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, in the way she's able to make a figure feel so present, so alive, with just a few strokes. Ultimately, that's what art is, right? A conversation across time, a sharing of visions, always open to interpretation.