Vydubychi monastery 1958

Yuriy Khymych made this watercolor painting of the Vydubychi monastery, and it feels like an exercise in seeing. I can imagine Khymych, maybe in the cool of the morning, capturing the outlines of the monastery with delicate washes of color. What do you think he was thinking as he painted? Maybe about the sensation of the brush gliding over the paper, or the way the light defined the shapes of the building. The paint is applied thinly, almost transparently, so the white of the paper shines through, giving the painting a luminous quality. Notice how the bare trees are rendered with such sensitivity—each stroke of the brush suggesting their delicate, skeletal forms. With such limited means, Khymych creates such an open and affecting image. Painters are always talking to each other across time, taking inspiration and ideas, and pushing things forward. Hopefully this artwork inspires you too.