Portrait of Anna Akhmatova. 1922 Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939)

Description of Kuzma Petrov Vodkin’s Portrait of Anna Akhmatova

Petrov-Vodkin’s later work was marked by a desire to move away from the desire to find solutions to the universal questions of existence characteristic of the master’s compositional paintings. He turned to the genre of portraiture, thus substantially narrowing his artistic task, which was now limited to the desire to convey in the smallest detail any face he liked. This is why the artist’s canvases are remarkable for their great portrait likeness.

Particularly often Petrov-Vodkin painted his wife Maria Feodorovna and other loved ones. However, among his works also come across images of famous people. These include "Portrait of Anna Akhmatova" (1922), which is perhaps the most significant work done by the artist during his later career.

When an artist paints a portrait of a famous person, he takes a certain risk associated with a great responsibility both to himself and to history. In addition, the notorious public opinion may not accept the work if it does not meet any popular perception of this or that person. In the case of Anna Akhmatova, the artist also had to engage in creative competition with his colleagues, who had once already managed to portray the poetess.

Did the artist win this competition?

Of course, because he saw in Anna Andreevna not just a Creator, but a Person - an extraordinarily deep person for whom the word of poetry is not a mechanical form of transferring emotions on paper, but the meaning of all existence.

Anna’s portrayal is typical of the artist’s work of that period - the poetess’ face is taken in close-up. Her pale pink tone contrasts with the bluish background. Out of this blue the face of the maiden, listening to the poetic word of Akhmatova. In this one can see the influence of the traditions of the past, which Petrov-Vodkin never really abandoned.