Pavel Varfolomevich Kuznetsov (1878–1968) was a Russian painter and graphic artist.

Life and career

He studied at

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901, ...

Bogolyubov Bogolyubov or Boholyubov (; ) is a surname in Russia and Ukraine, meaning "he who loves God" or, possibly "he who is loved by God". Spellings Bogoljubov and Bogoliubov are also used. The feminine form is Bogolyubova (russian: Боголюбова). ...

Art School (1891–1896), then

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

(1897–1904) and for a year in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

(1905). His early paintings were exhibited by the

Mir Iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize Eur ...

group, and he was closely associated with the Russian

Symbolists Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

. He helped to organize the Crimson Rose exhibition (1904) and was a founder and leader of the Blue Rose in 1907. He taught at the Stroganov Institute (1917–18; 1945-8) and at the Moscow Institute of Fine Arts (1918–37). He headed the painting section of

Narkompros The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charg ...

until 1921, but fell out of official favour with the advent of

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. Kuznetsov's early paintings are typical of the Blue Rose group's poetic explorations of an interior, imaginative world through archetypal symbols. After 1910 he drew increasingly on folk culture, continuing to draw on the rich colours and harmonious rhythms of the Symbolists but simplifying his compositions to depict the everyday life of village communities of Kirghizstan in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

Works

File:Kuznetsov GoluboyFontan.jpg, ''Blue Fountain'', 1905 File:Kuznetsov vstepi.jpg, ''In the steppes. Mirage'', 1911 File:KuznetsovNatyurmortsGravyuroy.jpg, ''Still life with a Japanese Engraving'', 1912 File:Kuznetsov EasternMotive.jpg, ''Eastern Motive'', 1913-1914 File:KuznetsovSborPlodov.jpg, Harvesting of Fruits, 1913-1914

References

* Stupples, P., ''Pavel Kuznetsov: His Life and Art'', Cambridge, 1989

References

House Museum of Pavel V. Kuznetsov
at the Artist's Studio Museum Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Pavel 1878 births 1968 deaths 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian painters Orientalist painters Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni