Ivan Bugaevskiy-Blagodarniy

Ivan Bugaevskiy-Blagodarniy left behind exactly one painting we know of—his 1824 study of the more famous portraitist Vladimir Borovikovsky—but it’s a startling little thing: Borovikovsky’s face floats in the middle of the canvas, half-finished, one eye staring back at you like he’s just caught you peeking. The brushwork is so loose you can still see the canvas grain through the oil, as if the artist stopped mid-thought and never came back. Look it up if you want to feel what it’s like when a painting lets you watch the artist at work.