Viktor Borisov-Musatov. Ghosts. 1903. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.The image of the wor

Viktor Borisov-Musatov. Ghosts. 
1903. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

The image of the world in the picture is represented using a fine, semi-transparent veil, which seems to conceal strange light. Phantom figures, generating numerous reflections in the wave-like fluctuations of space, glide away like echoes of music that is dying in the distance. By placing the figures in no particular order, the artist creates an impression of their spontaneous movement, as if they were driven by some unknown force pushing them. The image instability is achieved using the technique of reduced dull tempera to produce fresco-like radiance. The picture seems to comprise quite a few transparent layers. The colours do not obscure the view of the underlying fabric of coarse-grained canvas, which produces the effect of material half decomposed with time. The painting becomes so immaterial that it comes close to poetry and music.