The Shepherd of the Shalkode Valley

Description

Author: Lizogub, Maria. 1909-1998
A bust-length portrait of an elderly man depicted in profile facing right. Presented in a close-up view are his sunburnt, weathered face with a mustache and greying beard, and his focused gaze directed into the distance. He wears a light pink shirt, a dark vest, and a white felt hat - a kalpak. The painterly style is free, characterized by broad, energetic brushwork; the face is densely modeled with active color construction, while the background is rendered in a generalized manner. The color scheme builds on the contrast between the warm, ochre-brown tones of the face and the cool blue background of the sky, imparting the freshness of a plein-air study to the image and emphasizing the rugged character of the model.