Yuri Ivanovich Pimenov

Private Collection, Paris until 2006

The paint surface is slightly dirty with a layer of disoloured varnish. The board appears sound. Examination under UV light reveals very minor scattered flecks of re-touching in places thruoghout the composition predominately concentrated along the top edge. Held in a modern silvered wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Perhaps the most influential of all Soviet-era painters, Pimenov was best known for his depictions of the evolving Moscow skyline. The offered lot is a superb variation on this theme, revealing the cityscape through the window of the artist's studio. The picture is executed in the neo-impressionist style which he adopted from the late 1930s and incorporates two themes central to his oeuvre: Moscow and the beauty of the commonplace (fig.1). In the decade following the completion of this painting Pimenov worked on his two renowned series, 'Everyday Objects' and 'New Districts' portraying Moscow's new developments, for which he received the prestigious Lenin Award.

Foreseeing the political thaw, Pimenov does not advertise Moscow's capital status in this work but portrays it simply as an inhabitable space. The artist shares with the public his own private view of the city – the new and the old, the traditional and the modern, in its everyday condition. Here tall, multi-storey buildings neighbour tiny wooden houses; towers and cupolas stand next to telegraph poles and radio antennas.

The unobtrusive, seemingly accidental composition underscores the informal character of the painting. He divides the scene at left by framing the outside world within the moulding of windowpanes, and then balances it at right with a vase of chrysanthemums, his favourite flowers. By incorporating elements of a still life Pimenov creates an intimate space where the window protects the viewer from the outside chill. In the absence of human figures these blooming flowers enliven the scene; their vibrancy contrasts the reserved palette of the world outside, even as Pimenov's characteristic brushstrokes lend a shimmery lightness to the grey and rainy day.