Artist Korovin biography and his paintings. The dramatic fate of Konstantin Korovin: why the name of the Russian artist was forgotten in his homeland

An incredibly talented person who was able to do everything easily, no matter what he took on. Konstantin Korovin is a famous painter and impressionist. His paintings can be seen in the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery and even the Louvre. He is still considered an outstanding impressionist. Every major art museum dreams of having a painting by him.

Paintings by Konstantin Korovin

The painting “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” was the first to gain fame, impressing even the artist Repin. This canvas became the first sign of impressionism, which was alien to the Russian school. “Parisian Cafe” and the beautiful sketch “Paper Lanterns” are among the many paintings that Korovin was inspired by his beloved Paris. Masterpieces recognized by society and eminent critics. Color, light, unique strokes - all this creates the necessary tension. Separately, it is worth mentioning such paintings as “At the Balcony” and “On the Seashore in Crimea”. He believed that the beauty of a canvas depends on the truth, which is painted with soul. Konstantin Korovin did not copy nature, but conveyed it lovingly.

He lived by impressionism. On his first trip to France, Konstantin Korovin received so many impressions that he decided to remain faithful to this type of fine art. Russian in spirit, he adopted the best of French impressionism, but remained faithful to his homeland. He was considered bright and cheerful, colorful and colorful. The same as his paintings.

What inspired the painter while working?

Konstantin Korovin was very fond of the works of Pushkin and Lermontov, as well as other famous writers. He loved poems and recited them by heart. His canvases are imbued with the Russian soul and the characteristics of his homeland. But at the same time, he tried to avoid the so-called “literaryness” when working on his works. Konstantin Korovin wanted to convey:

❶ Colorfulness (he never hid his love for color, rather emphasized it).

❷ Ease (the work should be “in the palm of your hand”, understandable and simple).

❸ Beauty in forms and light (he literally recreated the form with light and shadow, the texture of the stroke).

He could not be called a frivolous person. Having become the first impressionist, he had to face serious criticism. He was supported by eminent masters of his craft, but also criticized by well-known artists. During his creative life, he painted more than three hundred paintings. During his lifetime, paintings were not in high demand; Konstantin Korovin lived modestly, but remained an amazing person. He made friends with famous poets, writers and public figures of that time.

In the last years of his life, Konstantin Korovin almost completely lost his sight and took up writing, creating essays about art and travel. Despite his love for his homeland, any literary notes by the artist were prohibited in Soviet Russia. The man of amazing soul turned out to be not needed by his country. The pioneer of Russian impressionism and the head of the union of Russian artists was forced to move to France. But the dream of dying in Russia did not come true.

Korovin Konstantin Alekseevich (1861-1939)

In the copy of the Parish Book of the Sergius Church for 1861, in the first part, under No. 102, it is written: “On the twenty-third day of November, the Yeisk merchant son Alexei Mikhailov Korovin and his legal wife Apollinaria Ivanova, both of the Orthodox faith, had a son, Konstantin; baptized on the 24th of the same month; At the baptism, the recipients of the Rogozhskaya settlement were the coachman Alexei Nikitich Ershov and the Yeisk merchant Mikhail Emelyanov Korovina, wife Vassa Mikhailova. The sacrament of baptism was performed by the parish priest Simeon Pospelov with the clergy.

Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin was born on November 23, 1861 into a wealthy merchant family. In 1875, Korovin entered the architectural department of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where his older brother Sergei, later a famous realist artist, also studied painting. By this time their family was broke. “I was in great need,” Konstantin Korovin recalled about his years of study, “for fifteen years I had been giving drawing lessons and earning my bread.”

In 1877, having presented landscapes painted during the holidays, Korovin moved to the painting department in the class of A.K. Savrasov, who paid great attention to sketches from life and taught his students to see the beauty of Russian nature. Later, Korovin recalled Savrasov’s instructions: “Go write, write sketches, study, most importantly, feel...”.

Under the influence of Savrasov, Konstantin Korovin’s attraction to landscapes was evident early on. Already at school, trying to maintain the freshness of his impressions, he completed his works directly on location. In the paintings “Village” (1878), “Early Spring” (1870s), “Bridge” (1880s), careful observation of nature is combined with its direct perception.

Since 1882, V.D. Polenov became Konstantin Korovin’s teacher, who attached serious importance to issues of artistic form.

The young artist’s fame was brought to him by “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” (1883), painted in the open air. The woman’s face, her dress, her hat are filled with soft diffused light; the reflections falling from the green trees glide along them. Wide, free painting, shining colors - all this made the portrait a great achievement of Russian painting. Polenov’s favorite student, Korovin did not find approval from the official leadership of the school: his “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” was removed from the exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, but already in 1888 his landscape works were awarded a prize there. In 1886, Konstantin Korovin graduated from college with the title of non-class artist.

In the summers of 1887 and 1888, Korovin worked at the Polenovs’ dacha in Zhukovka, near Mytishchi, where he created a number of vivid half-portraits, half-genres, depicting members of the Polenov family (“At the tea table”, “In the boat”).

Polenov introduced Korovin to the Abramtsevo circle, which united a number of Russian cultural figures around the famous Moscow philanthropist S.I. Mamontov. The circle included brothers A. M. and V. M. Vasnetsov, I. E. Repin, V. D. and E. D. Polenov, M. M. Antokolsky, I. S. Ostroukhov and others. The passion for Russian themes characteristic of the Abramtsevo circle is represented in Korovin’s work by the painting “Northern Idyll” (1886).

In 1885, S. I. Mamontov created a private opera, and Konstantin Korovin designed “Aida” by G. Verdi, and in the next season - “Lakmé” by L. Delibes and “Carmen” by J. Bizet, “The Woman of Pskov” by N. A. Rimsky -Korsakov, where he made costumes and sets specifically “for Chaliapin.” V. S. Mamontov recalled the production of “Aida”: “Korovin wrote the scenery superbly; the “moonlit night on the banks of the Nile” and the “entrance of the temple” in which the trial of Radames took place were especially good.”

With the money earned in the theater, Korovin travels to France and Spain. Spanish impressions were reflected in the best of Korovin’s early genre paintings, “At the Balcony. Spanish women Leonora and Ampara” (1889)...

Korovin’s best portrait works show the fusion of man with nature, when the attractiveness of man and the beauty of nature complement each other. In the remarkable portrait of T. S. Lyubatovich (c. 1886), the poetic nature of the famous singer is revealed through pictorial means. The artist here solved a complex painting problem. A woman with a book in her hands, in a white dress, sits with her back to the window against a backdrop of lush greenery. She carries herself simply and naturally. The sliding purple and pink reflections of sunlight on the dress give the figure an unusual lightness.

Trips to the North played a major role in the artist’s further work. During a trip in 1888, he was captivated by the views of the harsh northern coasts, and this is how the paintings “The Shores of Norway” and “The North Sea” appeared.

The second trip together with V.A. Serov to the North in 1894 was associated with the construction of the Northern Railway. Korovin captured the beauty of northern places in a large number of landscapes: “Harbor in Norway”, “St. Tryphon’s Stream in Pecheneg”, “Hammerfest. Northern Lights”, “Murmansk Coast”, etc. Many of them are built on the finest development of shades of gray. In these works there is a noticeable desire for a sketch painting, characteristic of the artist’s work in the 90s.

Based on materials from the trip, Korovin designed the pavilion of the Northern Railway, built according to his design at the All-Russian Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. On huge panels, the artist created broad, generalized images of nature and life in the North.

Since the 1890s, having creatively accepted the achievements of French impressionism, in the 1900s - 1910s. he finally moved from tonal painting to a coordinated harmony of color harmonies (“Moskvoretsky Bridge”, 1914).

In 1900, Korovin was appointed head of the artistic design of the Russian pavilions at the World Exhibition in Paris. He paints several large, decorative panels of color. For the design of the Handicraft Pavilion (it was also called the “Russian Village”) and for his painting, the artist received eleven awards, including two gold ones, and the French government awarded him the Order of the Legion of Honor. The artist's works are exhibited in many European cities.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korovin has been paying more and more attention to the theater. The transition from Mamontov's private opera to the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg contributed to the implementation of the artist's plans on a larger scale. His design of performances revolutionized the art of theater and decoration. Instead of the traditional stage decoration, which determined only the location of the action, he creates “mood scenery” that conveys the overall emotional mood of the performance. Korovin not only gave Russian opera on themes of Russian history a special national spirit and flavor (“Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1901) and “Life for the Tsar” (1904) by M. I. Glinka, “Prince Igor” by A. P. Borodin, operas N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov: “Sadko” (1906), “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh” (1907), “The Golden Cockerel” (1909), “The Snow Maiden” (1911), “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1913) ), but also subtly processed his landscape impressions from nature, imparting a kind of vital reverence to the design of the performance.

A colorist by nature, Korovin in his theatrical works, as in easel painting, makes color the main means of expression. “Colors and form in their combinations give a harmony of beauty...,” wrote Korovin. “Colors can be a feast for the eyes... The eyes speak to your soul - joy, pleasure... Paints, chords of colors, shapes - this is the task I set myself in the decorative painting of the ballet and opera theater.”

Since the 1910s, the colorfulness of Korovin’s paintings has intensified, and a sweeping, free painting style appears. The artist's artistry reaches its peak. This is clearly visible in the films “Pier in Gurzuf” (1914) and “Bazaar” (1916). At the same time he painted a lot of still lifes. “Roses and Violets” (1912) are executed in a rich, major color scheme. The still life “Fish” (1916) is remarkable for its tangibility, concreteness of objects that do not dissolve in the virtuoso breadth of writing.

“Unusually emotional,” his student B. Ioganson writes about Konstantin Korovin, “impatient for action, he easily lit up in front of everything that occupied his picturesque gaze - spring thawed patches off the coast of Istra, a girl in a white dress near a lilac branch, roses brightened by the sun , against the backdrop of the blue sea, a provincial street of a provincial town, Venice or Tashkent, Arkhangelsk... or the night lights of Paris... In everything he found the poetry of the truth of painting... His joy was the fascinating process of battle with nature, when something alive appears on the canvas , a second life is being created, enriched by the poetic feeling of the artist.”

Since 1901, Konstantin Korovin has been teaching at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. His students were A. M. Gerasimov, S. V. Gerasimov, B. V. Ioganson, P. V. Kuznetsov, I. I. Mashkov, L. V. Turzhansky, K. F. Yuon.

During the First World War, K. Korovin was a camouflage consultant at the headquarters of one of the Russian armies. After the revolution, he took an active part in artistic life: he was involved in the preservation of art monuments, organizing auctions and exhibitions in favor of released political prisoners. The artist continues to work in the theater, designing a number of productions: “Walkyrie” and “Siegfried” by R. Wagner, the ballet “The Nutcracker” by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1918 - 1920).

In 1923, Korovin went to Paris to organize an exhibition and treat his son, where he remained permanently. Paris became one of the artist’s favorite themes. In the Parisian city landscapes “Parisian Café” (1890s), “Café de la Paix” (1905), “Paris. Place de la Bastille” (1906) and others emphasize the seemingly random construction of the composition, the desire for an enhanced sound of color, and the free manner of painting.

In the 1900s, Konstantin Korovin showed great interest in the night and evening landscapes of Paris with sparkling advertising lights and flashing carriages: “Paris at night. Italian Boulevard” (1908), “Night Carnival” (1901), “Paris in the Evening” (1907) and others.

The artist's Parisian works are the most impressionistic. K. A. Korovin masterfully captures impressions of the multicolored, bright, changeable life of a big city. In the evening twilight or morning haze, color loses its concreteness, turns into a system of vibrating spots, objects lose their clear outlines. However, in Korovin’s best works, along with the conveyance of an emotional state, materiality, the tangible materiality of objects, is also of great importance.

In the last years of his life, he worked fruitfully in the largest theaters in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Konstantin Korovin died in 1939. K. F. Yuon spoke beautifully about his work: “Korovin’s painting is a figurative embodiment of the painter’s happiness and joy of life. All the colors of the world attracted him and smiled at him.”

Artist's paintings

Venice

Spring

View of the village

Carnations and violets in a white vase

Capital city.

At the tea table

Winter in Lapland

Winter

Winter landscape (Russian winter)

in winter

Okhtino interior

Moskvoretsky Bridge

In the north

On Lake Senezhskoe

By the sea

Nasturtiums

Still life with lobster

Still life with fish

Still life. Roses

The invisible city of Kitezh.

Autumn. On Bridge

Chamber of the royal palace in Tmutarakan

Paris. Boulevard des Capucines

Paris Boulevard at night

Parisian cafe.

Greenhouses

Landscape with a hedge

Place de la Bastille

Portrait of Nikolai Dmitrievich Chichagov

Portrait of Sergei Savvich Mamontov

Portrait of Tatyana Spiridonovna Lyubatovich

Portrait of Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin

Portrait of a chorus girl

Posad Berendeyev

Marina in Gurzuf

Roses 1

Konstantin Alekseevich perceived life brightly and festively.

He reflected on his canvases the first impressions of what he saw, which is why they are so fresh, their coloring is mostly light. Konstantin Korovin filled the works he wrote in the North, in Europe, in Paris, in the Russian south with air and surprise at the beauty of the world. Everything that K. Korovin worked on is filled with the spirit of transformation.

Childhood and youth

Konstantin Korovin was born into a family of Old Believers in 1861. His grandfather rose from being a peasant to becoming the owner of a coachman's cab. The boy and his brother Sergei spent their childhood in Moscow in complete prosperity. The colorful grandfather could sit, covered with a sheepskin coat, in an Empire style hall and listen to Bach. My father, having invested in the construction of the railway, went bankrupt. A family from Moscow moved to Mytishchi. The mother, an educated noblewoman, could not allow her children to be left without an education. Since they both had artistic inclinations, one after another they entered the Moscow School of Painting.

Years of study (1875-1886)

Konstantin Korovin opened the doors of the architectural department at the age of fourteen, and a year later he transferred to the art department. This decade is characterized not only by the formation of the artist, but also by the terrible, impoverished existence of the brothers. K. Korovin studied in the class of V. Perov and A. Savrasov, and later - V. Polenov. This was the period of heyday or dominance, whatever you like, of the everyday genre, and the authorities did not favor landscapes. When the teaching came to an end, the artist’s father voluntarily committed suicide. His mother later died. The Polenov family took a great part in Konstantin’s life, warmed and sheltered him. This will be reflected in the genre work of 1888.

“Polenovo. At the tea table"

Summer sunny day. On the open veranda, behind which the green garden rages with all its colors, we see a cozy family picture: an intelligent family is sitting at a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth, having tea. The table is a still life with a copper samovar polished to a mirror shine, white and blue porcelain dishes, which further emphasizes the whiteness of the tablecloth and blouses in which the three women are dressed, and the officer’s white cap. He, in a bright black uniform, also becomes a decorative accent, although all the attention is paid to the two women. One of them has needlework in her hands, the second, facing us in profile, is conducting a conversation.

In this bright work, impressionistic tendencies are felt, which will later develop in full force in the artist’s work. Introducing: impressionist Konstantin Korovin, paintings with titles: “Lilac”, “Crimea. Gurzuf”, “Autumn”, “On the Seashore”, “Roses and Violets”, “Roses and Fruits”, “Roses”, “Paris at Night” and many others. These will be genre scenes, still lifes and landscapes.

Meeting Mamontov in 1884

This year Konstantin Korovin graduates from college and does not receive the title of artist. He continues his studies for two more years. In 1888-1889, he and S.I. Mamontov visited Italy, Paris, and Spain. He was very interested in the Italian cityscape. Venice in his painting appears not as a holiday city, not as a pride of masks and masquerades, but as an ordinary working city.

In the dark water of the canal, gondolas are clustered in the foreground, waiting for passengers. Two- or three-story houses, made of ocher, turn golden in the sun and are reflected in stagnant water. The dense buildings show the lack of space and cramped conditions of the city on the water. The sky is not azure, but covered with grayish clouds. The artist looked at the Venetian landscape with different eyes, seeing in it not the splendor of palaces and monuments, but ordinary, everyday life. A little later he will take an independent trip to Paris, but he will work little and spend more time watching, studying, and missing Russia. Therefore, Korovin will gladly accept S. Mamontov’s offer to go to the North. But first he will paint a small village landscape.

"In Winter", 1894

This is a painfully familiar and at the same time new look at a Russian village in the middle zone. A black horse under a red arch stands harnessed to a sleigh near a dilapidated fence, gray with time.

Nearby there is an aspen tree, two birch trees and a small hut as gray as the fence. That's all the decoration of the landscape. Ahead of the horse is a well-worn road across an immense field under a gray sky. The artist made two colors play in his painting: white and gray. They do not give the impression of monotony and boredom; the painter found so many shades in them.

Korovin and Serov on an expedition

In 1894, two bosom friends went to work in Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Northern Norway. Sketches and finished works were created there. From the north, Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin brought works that occupied an outstanding place in Russian painting: “Winter in Lapland”, “Stream of St. Tryphon in Pecheneg." We will present one of the works to our readers.

"Hammerfest. Northern Lights", 1895

This landscape was painted in the north of Scandinavia. This is one of the artist's best works. It is now in the State Tretyakov Gallery. In this tall and narrow picture, all the lines emphasize the verticals to which it is subordinated. The city is squeezed by tall buildings, whose outlines resemble rocks.

On the house on the left in the foreground, black windows rise up rhythmically. Nearby stands a half-abandoned boat with a long exposed mast. It casts deep shadows onto the dark, shimmering cold water. And in the background the northern lights sparkle and cast crimson and blue reflections on the gloomy walls of the houses. Its ghostly pillars leave a unique imprint on the entire city.

Nizhny Novgorod exhibition

After a trip to the north, S. Mamontov invited the artist to organize an exhibition designed to acquaint the viewer with the life and way of life of the northerners. K. Korovin designed a wooden pavilion and put a lot of effort into decorating it with various panels, stuffed animals and birds, bundles of dried fish, and lichen. Overall, he was pleased with such a creative and unusual work, which resonated with many. After this, he was appointed organizer of the “Russian Village” at the World Exhibition in Paris. Konstantin Korovin received recognition in Europe, was awarded gold and silver medals and the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Marriage and birth of a son

In 1897, the artist entered into a civil marriage with A. Ya. Fidler. They had a son, Alexei, who would later become an artist and die in 1950 in Paris.

Work in the theater

At first there was a lot of work at the S. Mamontov Theater, where he met F. I. Chaliapin and carried his friendship with him throughout his life. Korovin created sketches for Chaliapin’s costumes and painted more than one portrait of him.

In 1911, he will create a true masterpiece in the style of impressionism, with which Korovin was well acquainted and which he mastered fluently. He sat his model in a low chair on a bright sunny day on the veranda in front of an elegantly set table.

The still life on the table perfectly reveals the breadth and lordliness of the singer’s nature: a lush bouquet of roses, a bowl of fruit, an uncorked bottle of expensive wine, a glass filled with red wine. All this against the backdrop of a green garden that looks into the room. Blue shadows play everywhere. Fyodor Ivanovich is dressed in a white suit with a blue silk scarf and is in excellent spirits. The painter set out to convey this joy using all artistic means, which he succeeded with brilliance.

Crimean landscapes

In the south, Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin writes bright works, filled with light and salty sea air and mountain aromas. Almost everywhere there are roses - the painter’s favorite flowers. They are painted with large strokes; the artist simply “sculpts” them on his canvases. The landscape “Gurzuf” captivates with a charming portrait of a woman in white against the backdrop of the blue sea and blue sky.

The sun blinds the eyes of a charming stranger. A lush bouquet of roses lies on a green chair, which, like the burgundy railings, casts deep blue shadows on the grayish stone floor. The joy of life shines through in every southern landscape. No one yet knows that Austria-Hungary is about to drag all of Europe into the war, and revolution after revolution will begin in Russia and the fragile lives of millions of people will be broken.

And earlier, in 1910, the artist met the dramatic actress N. I. Komarovskaya, who would become his wife for a short time. When the sick artist, almost deprived of the opportunity to work by the new Soviet government, went abroad, she would remain in Russia and successfully continue her work in the theater, dying in 1967.

Emigration

In 61, K. Korovin had to leave his homeland and, like a tumbleweed, go to France through Riga and Berlin. He doesn't yet know that this is forever. In Paris, where he settled, the artist first worked at the Grand Opera.

In addition, Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin writes paintings on the themes of Paris: its squares, boulevards, narrow streets and cafes, illuminated by the sun or night lights of lanterns. Later, he will lose his sight and begin writing stories to earn a living. He would die in 1939. Konstantin Korovin, whose biography alternated between prosperity and poverty, has not been forgotten. Exhibitions of his works are regularly held.

Exhibition of Konstantin Korovin

A little more than four months until 02.12.17, an exhibition of works by Konstantin Alekseevich is open in Kazan. She constantly gathers a large number of fans of his work. On it you can get acquainted not only with 48 works of the painter, but also with documents and photographs. The 7 halls house, among other things, monumental panels that were previously in storage and were exhibited in 1900 at the World Exhibition in Paris, which we mentioned above. The exhibition shows that his works are not at all outdated and are in tune with our time.

Korovin is called the first Russian impressionist. His work amazed his contemporaries: some were shocked by the carelessness and seeming clumsiness of his brushstrokes, others caught the main thing - the play of light and shadow, the innovation of the colorist. The first called the works of Konstantin Korovin decadence and daubs, the second, looking at the artist’s amazing landscapes and still lifes, saw traits of genius.

One of the few contemporaries who recognized signs of talent in the painter’s works was. The singer called the artist “in painting.” At that time, few agreed with Chaliapin, but 3-4 decades after Korovin’s death, his lush paintings filled with light and life were recognized as the works of a true master.

Childhood and youth

The future painter was born into a wealthy merchant family. My grandfather, an Old Believer and a merchant of the first guild, was called the Moscow “king of the charioteers.” Mikhail Korovin ran the postal route and managed hundreds of coachmen. The son of a merchant and the future father of the artist, Alexey Korovin, received a university education and was a very gifted person. Kostya's sons and their father have a talent for drawing.

Alexei Korovin married a noble bride - noblewoman Apollinaria Volkova, an educated girl with progressive views. But family happiness did not last long. Railroad communication was rapidly developing in the country, and coachmen who plied postal routes became a thing of the past. The business built by Korovin Sr. did not bring profit; a rich merchant house in Moscow went under the hammer. The Korovins moved to Mytishchi.

Little Kostya liked the countryside, but his father, who got a job as a factory accountant, plunged into severe depression, ending in suicide. Despite poverty, the mother gave her children an education.

Konstantin’s 3-year older brother, Sergei Korovin, became a student at the capital’s painting school. Soon Korovin Jr. joined him: 14-year-old Kostya chose architecture, but a year later he transferred to the faculty of painting, which was headed by a landscape painter.

Kostya idolized his mentor, but Alexei Kondratyevich, who was rapidly becoming an alcoholic, was fired. For the young artist, parting with his beloved teacher was the first disappointment in life: Kostya left the school and went to St. Petersburg to the art academy. I lasted 3 months: my studies seemed dead and boring.

Konstantin Korovin returned to the capital and to his native school, where he took Savrasov’s position. Soon Vasily Dmitrievich filled the empty place of his beloved teacher in the heart of the young painter.

The mentor introduced the talented student to a philanthropist, and he invited Kostya to the Abramtsevo estate, which became the center of the cultural life of the capital. The cultural elite of Russia gathered at Mamontov's hospitable estate;

Painting

The creative biography of the modernist opens with “Portrait of a Chorus Girl,” written in the early 1880s. The painting amazed contemporaries, who called it the “first sign” of a new direction - impressionism. Repin, who saw the Korovin chorus girl, was so amazed by the color scheme, the boldness of the technique and design that he demanded to immediately show the creator of the work.

Mamontov, confident that the portrait was painted by a Spaniard (Russian masters were not known for such courage and freedom), was surprised to learn that the chorus girl was painted by a 22-year-old compatriot. The patron invited Konstantin Korovin to the estate. It is noteworthy that Korovin discovered the innovative direction himself, without knowing about its appearance in France. The artist visited Paris 4 years after painting “Portrait of a Chorus Girl”.

At the time of the creation of the painting in Russia, the Itinerants, committed to realism, vitality and the educational mission of art, were at the peak of popularity. The portrait of an ugly girl sitting in an unnatural pose, painted with rough strokes, taught nothing. The work was perceived as a challenge, a mockery of beauty. But Konstantin Korovin accepted the criticism philosophically and did not deviate from his chosen style.

The painter created his first works in an innovative manner in the village of Zhukovka, at the dacha of teacher Polenov. These first impressionist works were united as the “Zhukov cycle”.

The main goal of Konstantin Korovin was to convey light and air on canvas. The painting “At the Tea Table” is clear proof of the achievement of the task. The composition of the canvas is built in accordance with the artistic direction of impressionism - like a random frame. The characters are relaxed, the center of the composition is shifted, the right edge of the canvas seems to be cut off.

Modernist paintings are difficult to fit into one genre: they contain features of portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. This can be seen in Korovin’s early impressionist works “In a Boat” and “Moskvoretsky Bridge”.

At Mamontov’s the painter met Serov. Colleagues went to travel around the North, where the works “Arctic Ocean” and “Village in the North” appeared. The painting “Winter in Lapland” was purchased by a gallery owner.

The trip to Crimea and Gurzuf with Mamontov was inspired by the paintings “Crimea. Gurzuf" and "Pier in Gurzuf". Korovin made sketches while traveling around the Black Sea region by car: he stopped in places he liked and sketched landscapes.

In 1888, a philanthropist financed Konstantin Korovin’s trip to France. The famous paintings “Paris” appeared there. Boulevard des Capucines”, “Parisian Cafe”, “After the Rain”, which the artist was inspired by the ancient city on the banks of the Seine. In Paris, which the painter loved so much, he met the Impressionists, who amazed him with their color rendering technique. After returning, the master taught at the capital’s painting school and after a couple of years became an academician.

Konstantin Alekseevich is known as a talented creator of still lifes with flowers, of which there are dozens in his heritage. The master was especially fond of lilacs and roses. Like all works of modernists, Korovin’s still lifes and landscapes are best viewed from a distant perspective. The artist paid tribute to all seasons of the year: his gallery presents autumn, winter, spring and summer.

The outbreak of the First World War forced Korovin to go to the front, where he advised the military on camouflage issues. Konstantin Korovin escaped repression after the October Revolution: after the decline of business, the family moved from the merchant class to the bourgeois class.

The new government entrusted the artist with organizing auctions and exhibitions, recording and preserving art monuments. Korovin taught in state workshops, collaborated with theaters and willingly painted scenery. Having accepted the changes in the system, Konstantin Alekseevich avoided politics, fleeing either to the Crimea or to his dacha in Okhotino near Yaroslavl.

In the 1920s, politics came close to the master: the dacha was taken away, the capital’s apartment was “densified.” In 1923, at the insistence of the modernist, he immigrated to France, explaining his departure by the need to treat his son.

Life in the once beloved Paris turned out to be difficult. Modernists went out of fashion, lack of money was exhausting, friends remained in Russia. Konstantin Korovin missed his homeland, Abramtsevo and Okhotino. To all the misfortunes was added the loss of vision. To keep himself busy, the artist took up his memoirs, discovering his gift as a writer. He wrote stories and memoirs, filling the longing for working with paints.

Leaving Russia, the painter left his work to the gallery owner Kreitor. He turned out to be a fraudster and, taking the canvases, disappeared. Today, paintings by the first Russian impressionist can be seen in the Russian Museum in the city on the Neva.

Personal life

The painter met his future wife Anna Fidler in his youth. Konstantin depicted his beloved girl in the painting “Paper Lanterns”. Korovin met with chorus girl Anna in secret, and the couple went down the aisle after the birth of their first child. Soon the boy died, for which Konstantin Korovin blamed himself: poverty reigned in the house, there was no money for doctors or medicine for his sick son.

The romance evaporated from the spouses’ relationship, but Korovin could not leave his wife and son. The relationship with Nadezhda Komarovskaya turned out to be an outlet for him. The actress is called the common-law wife of Konstantin Alekseevich.

Konstantin Korovin broke up with the woman he loved, immigrating to Paris with Anna and his second son Alyosha, a disabled person. At 16, Alexey was hit by a tram and left without legs. The boy took over his father's talent for drawing and became an artist.

His son’s depression and his wife’s illness (angina pectoris) became a constant source of suffering for Konstantin Korovin. He was torn in search of money, exhausted, looking for part-time work. An irritated wife and a gloomy son were waiting for him at home; the artist did not find support or understanding from his relatives.

Death

The artist died unexpectedly: he died in September 1939 due to a heart attack on a Parisian street. Mater was 77 years old. Konstantin Korovin was buried at the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery. Two years before his death, he admitted to a friend that he felt terrible loneliness.

The funeral of Russia's first modernist resembled a farewell to a beggar: there were no people willing to give money for a dignified farewell to Korovin.

In 1950, 11 years after the death of his father, Alexey Korovin took his own life.

Works

1883 – “Portrait of a Chorus Girl”
1888 – “In the Boat”
1888 – “At the tea table”
1890 – “Parisian Café”
1894 – “Winter in Lapland”
1896 – “Paper Lanterns”
1906 – “Boulevard des Capucines”
1913 – “Arctic Ocean”
1914 – “Pier in Gurzuf”
1914 – “Moskvoretsky Bridge”
1915 – “Lilac”
1916 – “Bazaar”
1917 – “Crimea. Gurzuf
1921 – “Portrait of F. I. Chaliapin”
1922 – “Still life with a blue vase”
1923 – “Roses”
1930 – “Winter Landscape”
1938 – “Self-portrait”

Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (November 23 (December 5) 1861, Moscow - September 11, 1939, Paris) - an outstanding Russian painter, theater artist, teacher and writer.

Biography of Konstantin Korovin

Korovin, Konstantin Alekseevich - painter. Born in Moscow in 1861; comes from wealthy peasants of the Vladimir province. His father is Alexey Mikhailovich, graduated from the university, his mother is Apollinaria Ivanovna, born. Volkova, came from a noble family. Since childhood, in my father’s house I met many artists and under the influence of my relative, I.M. Pryanishnikov, from an early age, together with his brother Sergei, began drawing.

He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, with Savrasov and Polenov; the latter had a great influence on Korovin.

To complete his education, Korovin goes to St. Petersburg and enters the Academy of Arts, but after three months he leaves there, disillusioned with the teaching methods there.

Korovin's creativity

In 1894, Korovin, together with his friend, artist V. Serov, made a trip to the North. As a result, landscapes appear: “Harbor in Norway”, “St. Tryphon’s Stream in Pechenga”, “Gemmerfest. Northern lights.", "Murmansk coast."

He traveled to Paris in 1887, 1892 and 1893, where he became acquainted with Impressionism. In 1896, K. A. Korovin designed the “Far North” pavilion, built according to his design in Nizhny Novgorod.

Paris occupies a significant place in Korovin's work. Cityscapes are clearly created under the strong influence of the French Impressionists.

When traveling to Paris, K. Korovin fell under the special charm of the city with its unsurpassed aesthetics. He masterfully managed to convey the life of the French capital in the hours of morning awakening, but most of all in the evening, in the decoration of the radiance of lights on the streets and boulevards. (“Paris. Boulevard des Capucines”, 1902, 1906 and 1911; “Paris in the morning”, 1906. All - Tretyakov Gallery).

In Paris, K. Korovin became interested in symbolism and, returning to Russia, attended the famous lectures of the esthete artist M. A. Durnov, and communicated with the poet K. D. Balmont. During these years, he painted the paintings “Northern Idyll” (1892, Tretyakov Gallery) and “Muse” (1890s, Tretyakov Gallery).

During the First World War, K. A. Korovin works as a camouflage consultant at the headquarters of the Russian army.

Since 1901, K. A. Korovin, together with V. A. Serov, taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Among his students are set designer S.F. Nikolaev, future teacher, writer and local historian S.P. Volkov.

Along with the gift of a painter, Konstantin Alekseevich also possessed an extraordinary literary talent. When the loss of vision forced him to completely abandon the visual arts, the artist continued to write stories.

Famous works of the artist

In the Boat (1888)
At the balcony. Spanish women Leonora and Ampara (1888-1889)
Northern Idyll (1892)
Parisian cafe (1890s)

In Winter (1894)
Gemmerfest. Northern Lights (1894-1895)
Paper Lanterns (1896)
Café de la Paix (1906)
Marina in Gurzuf (1914)
Bazaar (1916)