Virgin of Tenderness evil hearts 1915

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin made this painting, Virgin of Tenderness evil hearts, with oil on canvas, and the colors... well, they're not messing around, are they? A deliberate blend, a kind of controlled clash between the red and blue, and it feels very Russian somehow. Look at the Virgin's hands, how they’re raised, almost flat, confronting us. Those open palms make me think about the physicality of painting itself: the hand, the surface, the gesture. They’re not soft or delicate. It’s like the artist wanted us to feel the weight of the paint, the canvas, the whole damn thing. I mean, there's a crucifix in the background, so this isn't just an exercise in color theory, but the way Petrov-Vodkin handles the medium it feels like he’s pushing against the traditions of religious painting. This picture reminds me a little of some of the early Italian modernists, like the Futurists, who were also trying to find new ways of representing movement and emotion, and really shook things up. Ultimately, this piece isn't just about tenderness. It's about the struggle to make something new.