Black cat on a windowsill 1902

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin made this painting, titled 'Black cat on a windowsill,' with oil paint, and from the looks of it, with quite some gusto! It is a scene of domestic bliss bathed in sunlight, and rendered through loose brushstrokes and high-keyed color. The way the light pours in, fragmented by those window panes, speaks volumes about Korovin’s process. Look at the surface quality: the paint is applied wet-on-wet, and pretty thickly in places. It's almost as if he's sculpting with color! There is a real physicality to his work, as if he wants you to feel the heft and resistance of each stroke. Check out the way he's painted the leaves of the trees outside the window, with such an economy of means, or the confident flick of the brush that defines the back of the cat! Korovin reminds me a bit of Édouard Vuillard, another artist who found poetry in the everyday, and was fascinated by light and the domestic interior. Both artists understand that painting is not just about representation, but about a process of looking, feeling, and making.