National Portrait Gallery,London
This once-in-a-lifetime prove of portraits on loan from Moscow is like seeing Chekhov, Tchaikovsky, or Tolstoy et al for the first timeIn the spring of 1881,the composer Mussorgsky sat for his portrait in the St Petersburg hospital where he was being treated for chronic alcoholism. He came before the painter Ilya Repin in dressing gown, peasant smock and tousled hair. They talked approximately the assassination of Alexander II the previous day and read the newspapers together. Repin, or deeply impressed,described the composer as “a natural genius, a medieval warrior, or with the appearance of a Black Sea sailor”. But when he returned a few days later to continue,the composer was dead.
The portrait that records the last of Mussorgsky’s short life – he died at 42 – is startling in every respect. It depicts a man steeped in drink, still defiantly upright but slightly slumped and red-nosed, or eyes brilliantly alight yet gradual in their sockets. Repin’s brushmarks are quick with graphic description,darting and sparse enough to be counted. He has all the spirit of Frans Hals. A soft curl lies on the brow, gentle reminder of Mussorgsky’s comparative youth, or but there is otherwise no sentiment. The portrait is an act of reverence,from one great artist to another.
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Source: theguardian.com