Korovin Konstantin Alekseevich
Russian Russian painter Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin is one of the founders of Russian Impressionism and an outstanding theatrical artist, famous for his bright color palette and airy writing.
Biography
He was born on December 5, 1861 in Moscow in the family of an Old Believer merchant.
He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture: At first, he studied architecture, but soon switched to painting. Among his teachers were Alexey Savrasov, Vasily Polenov and Vasily Perov.
He became interested in impressionism. Polenov played an important role: he introduced the student to the French Impressionists. One of the first works in this vein was Portrait of a Chorus Girl (1880s), which was later called "the first swallow of Russian Impressionism."
I traveled a lot. In 1888-1889 he traveled to Spain and France. In 1894, together with Valentin Serov, he went North (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Norway, Swedish Lapland). Impressed by the trip, he created a whole series of works, including "Gemmerfest. Northern Lights".
He worked in the theater. Back in 1884, he began to create sketches of costumes and scenery, collaborating with the opera by Savva Mamontov. Later, he designed productions for the Imperial Theaters, as well as for the La Scala Theater in Milan. Among his works are the operas "Carmen", "Lacme", "Sadko", "The Golden Cockerel", the ballets "The Hunchback Horse", "Don Quixote".
He taught. Since 1901, together with Serov, he taught a class at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Among his students are Robert Falk, Konstantin Yuon, Martiros Saryan.
I experienced a personal tragedy. His son Alexei was hit by a tram as a child and lost his foot.
After the revolution, he was engaged in the preservation of art monuments, organized auctions and exhibitions for the benefit of political prisoners. Since 1918, he lived in the Ostrovno estate (Tver province), taught. In 1922, on the advice of Anatoly Lunacharsky, he left for France. In exile, when his eyesight deteriorated and he could no longer write, Korovin turned to literature — he wrote more than four hundred short stories, which he published in Parisian publications. He died on September 11, 1939 in Paris from a heart attack.
Creation
Korovin was distinguished by a lively, free manner of writing. He was one of the first in Russian art to consistently paint paintings entirely in the open air. His works often include:
Urban landscapes. He painted Paris especially a lot — morning and evening scenes, boulevards, cafes ("Paris. Boulevard des Capuchins", "Paris. Morning", "Paris in the evening", "Paris at night", "Cafe de la Paix").
Northern motifs. A series of works inspired by a trip to the North: "Harbor in Norway", "St. Tryphon's Creek in Pechenga", "Murmansk coast", "In Winter".
Crimean stories. In Gurzuf, the artist built a cottage "Salambo" according to his own design (in honor of the ballet of the same name that he successfully designed) and lived there for a long time in 1910-1917. Among the works of this period is "The Marina in Gurzuf".
Other topics. "By the balcony. The Spaniards Leonora and Ampara" (begun in Valencia, completed in Moscow), "In a Boat" (painted at Polenov's dacha, where the artist and Maria Yakunchikova posed), "Paper Lanterns" (it is believed that it depicts the artist's future wife Anna Fiedler), portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin (1911), still lifes (for example, "Fish, wine and fruits").
Where to see the works
Many of Korovin's paintings are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow). His works are also in the collection of the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
Konstantin Korovin House Museum in Gurzuf (Chekhov St., 1). It is located in the villa "Salambo", where the master lived and worked. In the museum you can see not only paintings and sketches, but also personal belongings, as well as get acquainted with the history of his theatrical works.