Petr Petrovich Konchalovsky

The Family of  the Artist

K.Frolova (ed), Konchalovsky: The Artistic Legacy, Moscow, 1964, p.91 
M.Neiman, P.P. Konchalovsky, Moscow, 1967 (listed)

The canvas has been strip-lined. The picture is clean and ready to hang. THere are a few fine lines of craquelure in places. UV light reveals no apparent signs of retouching. Held in a gold painted moulded plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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In the early 1900s, Russian art experienced a brief, yet intense period of experimentation with Impressionism. The movement was appreciated by such masters as Igor Grabar, Nikolai Tarkhov, Mikhail Larionov, Kazimir Malevich and also Petr Konchalovsky.

 

Konchalovsky graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1907, the year in which the offered lot was painted. In his autobiography, he recalled his early artistic development.

            "In the summer of 1907 I painted a whole series of studies in the impressionist style, some of which were shown at my 1941 exhibition, celebrating 35 five years of my artistic career. And so, my artistic career began in 1907, a time in which I formed my artistic visions and aspirations; beliefs which I hold to this day". (Unknown Konchalovsky. Exhibition catalogue. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, 2002, p. 63)

 

The Garden at Belkino  forms part of this series of impressionist works. Executed in a light and vibrant manner, with broad brushstrokes, the work is striking in its open and straightforward approach to the depiction of nature. It was exactly this approach to which Konchalovsky referred when talking about the development of his "artistic vision" in 1907. Although evidently indebted to Van Gogh in its treatment of the subject (fig.1), the offered work does not simply follow or imitate the direction of the French movement, but expresses a unique vision and style – that of a specifically Russian impressionism (fig.2).

 

The artist's wife, Olga, wrote, "We went Belkino in the spring of 1907. This was the estate of the Obninskys which before had belonged to the Buturlins; a beautiful place in Kaluga... Belkino stands between Moscow and Polotnyany Zavod, and so Pushkin stayed at Belkino when travelling on this route...In 1907 we lived there until December. This is where Konchalovsky embarked on a new line of work; after many years of tortuous searching he finally found his way and, from this moment, clearly understood his life's direction. He was 32."

(O.Konchalovsky,  Our Life Journey: Konchalovsky – The Artistic Legacy, Moscow, 1964, p.49)

We are grateful to Alexander Konov of the Petr Konchalovsky Foundation, for providing this note.