Dawn

Description

Author: Lizogub, Maria. 1909-1998
A dual portrait set against a landscape: depicted in the foreground are two elderly Kazakh women wearing long dresses, velvet kamzols, and white kimesheks, their gaze directed into the distance. Shifted to the left, the figures are unified into a single monolithic group, with sloping hillsides and distant peaks opening up behind them. The style is generalized and painterly, free of minute detail, with a soft modeling of forms using large planes. The color scheme builds on a cool blue-violet palette of dawn, accented with the warm pinkish-purple glow of the mountain peaks and the ochre tones of the faces. Turned toward the gathering light, the figures convey a mood of awakening and hope.