Evening Ringing 2004

Viktor Lyapkalo made this 90 x 60 cm oil painting, Evening Ringing, at an unknown date. Look at how the pinks and purples in the painting vibrate against each other. There’s a lot of tonal variation, like the way he models the figure with subtle changes in value, but the colours stay within a tight family, which is so good. You can see in the top left corner where the paint is applied more thickly, it’s sculptural. Whereas the white drape is more thinly applied. And what about the cat? It almost looks like it was added in at the last minute, the way it stretches out across the composition. I like how the curve of the figure is mirrored in the back of the cat – very painterly and knowing. This reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s nudes. There is a similar interest in the weight and volume of the body and a shared sensitivity to the relationship between figure and ground. It's a kind of conversation, isn't it?