Kem 1905

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin made this landscape, Kem, with oil paints in 1901. Look at the way the warm earthy tones are dabbed onto the canvas, creating a sense of movement and light. It's like he's inviting us to witness a fleeting moment in time. The texture is thick, almost sculptural in places, especially in the foreground. You can practically feel the roughness of the earth and the weathered wood of the buildings. Then there’s that splash of red, so small, near the doorway of one of the huts; a single brushstroke becomes a figure, which becomes the whole story of the painting. It's a testament to the power of suggestion, of how a simple mark can evoke a whole world of feeling and meaning. Korovin was friends with Valentin Serov, and both of them share a love of Russian landscape painting in the tradition of artists like Isaac Levitan. All of these artists remind us that art is a conversation, a continuous exchange of ideas and influences that stretches across time.