Konstantin Chebotaryov (; 1892–1974) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

painter. Chebotaryov was born in 1892 in a small village in present-day

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. "''Chebotar''" is a Ukrainian word for "

cobbler Cobbler(s) may refer to: *A person who repairs shoes * Cobbler (food), a type of pie Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * ''The Cobbler' ...

", but his father had risen in his family from peasant to land surveyor and eventually estate steward. Young Chebotaryov attended secondary school in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

. He began a self-published journal there in which he would present his writings. Chebotaryov entered the

Kazan Art School The Kazan Art School is a state autonomous education institution in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern ...

in 1910, where he studied with

Nicolai Fechin Nikolai Ivanovich Feshin, better known in English as Nicolai Fechin ( – 5 October 1955), was a Russian and American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans. After graduating with t ...

. While a student, Chebotaryov visited the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

in 1914, which is said to have inspired him greatly. His early paintings were a homage to

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, but soon his work began to shift into the modern era. In 1918, Chebotaryov created an art group called ''The Sunflower Union'', which claimed to revolt against old art and embrace everything. The union held its first exhibition in Kazan. The exhibition, featuring 305 works, was a landmark in the development of Russian art. Out of these, fifty belonged to Chebotaryov, displaying elements of

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. The

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

broke out and Chebotaryov was enlisted in the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

. After being crushed by the Reds, Chebotaryov fled to the east, but eventually returned to Kazan in 1921. Chebotaryov resumed his work as an artist and teacher. He married another noteworthy artist, Alexandra Platunova. In the 1920s, an artistic almanac, ''The Rider'', began to be published, and upon his return Chebotaryov actively contributed to it. In 1923, Chebotaryov began to teach theater design and created settings for the numerous plays began performed in the artistically productive Kazan. In 1926, he moved to Moscow, when the transform to Socialist Realism began to take place and stifle the revolutionary

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

. He eventually ceased working for the stage. Being braided as a bourgeois and reactionary for his art, and enemy of the people for his participation in the White Army, Chebotaryov met with hard times, bringing a fall from his position as leading artist in Kazan. He survived, however, though with a flattened reputation in Russia. His art was successful abroad and critics spoke of him highly in other countries. He tried but failed time and again to join the Moscow Artist's Union. Finally, in 1970, he was accepted to the Artists' Union, dying just four years later, impoverished and virtually unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chebotaryov, Konstantin 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters 1892 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Russian male artists