Pyotr Konchalovsky

Pyotr or Petr Petrovich Konchalovsky (; 21 February 1876 – 2 February 1956) was a Russian and Soviet painter. He was a founding member and Chairman of the Knave of Diamonds group.

Biography

Early life

Pyotr Konchalovsky was born in the village of Slavianka, Izyumsky Uyezd, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire, on 21 February 1876. His father was a translator and art publisher, with connections to many artists active in Russia during the late 19th century.

In 1889, the Konchalovskys moved to Moscow and their house became a part of the Moscow art scene of the 1890s. Their house was often visited by Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Vrubel, Vasily Surikov, and Konchalovsky used to spend every weekend at Tretyakov gallery to study the canvases painted by key Russian artists.

During his gymnasium years Konchalovsky attended classes of Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. After advice of Konstantin Korovin and Valentin Serov, in 1896-1898 he traveled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian, one of his classmates being Albert Gleizes. In 1899, he returned to Russia and entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, graduating in 1907. At the academy, he studied under Savinsky, Zaleman and Kovalevsky.

Career

Breakout days in the Moskow avant-guard

In the book “Pyotr Konchalovsky” (1936) by V.Nikolsky Konchalovsky recollects that he “found his art” when he visited Paris for the second time in 1907, and discovered Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He even made a week-long trip to Arles, to “penetrate even deeper into van Gogh’s world and to learn his art to the bottom”.

Working under these influences, he made a public debut at the Salon des Indépendants exhibition in Paris, 1908, but Konchalovsky soon returned to Moscow, bringing with him new ideas (elements of his work from this period have been identified as " Fauvist" and cezannism).

By 1909, he was exhibiting frequently, participating in the Golden Fleece, Fraternity, Mir Iskusstva, and New Society of Artists. He was a founding member of the society Knave of Diamonds in 1910, a rebellious, avant-guard group seeking to synthesize the modern art breakthroughs of French and German styles with Russian primitivism. Where Western European looked to African sculptures for artistic refreshment and inspiration, these Russian painters imagined they could turn to "indigenous" Russian works such as icons, provincial tavern and shop signs and street ads, “lubok”-style colorful book illustrations. Konchalovsky was elected as the group's first chairman in 1910.

Post WWI advancements

After serving in the Russian army 1914–1916, Konchalovsky returned to his art with moderated intentions. Beginning in 1918 he taught art. In 1922, he had his first solo exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery.

During that period, he mostly drew still lifes and landscapes. His paintings—as of all other Jacks of Diamond—remained strongly influenced by Paul Cézanne. But he started to paint portraits (often ceremonial portraits) that are considered examples of socialist realism style.

Personal life

Pyotr married Olga, the daughter of painter Vasily Surikov, who always praised the art of his son-in-law.

Work

Konchalovsky was a very prolific painter, and is known to have created more than five thousand works over the course of his long creative life. His work demonstrates a "complex evolution" of styles.

The influence of Paul Cezanne was "clearly visible" in Konchalovsky's paintings in the pre-WWI period.

Heralded as a member of Russia's avante guard, post war he became a Member of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Fine Arts and a People's Artist of the R.S.F.S.R.

His paintings are considered to have made a significant contribution to "the development of Soviet realistic art."

Legacy

Many of his descendants remained active in the world of art. His son Mikhail Petrovich Konchalovsky (1906-2000) was a noteworthy painter. His daughter Natalia Konchalovskaya (1903–1988) was a significant children's writer and her husband Sergey Mikhalkov a notable poet, the author of children's poetry and two versions of the State Anthem of the Soviet Union and the present National anthem of Russia. They have two sons: Andrei Konchalovsky, a film writer, director and a painter (whose son Egor is also a notable film director) and Nikita Mikhalkov, also a movie director who, in 1994, won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for his film ''Burnt by the Sun''.

In 2006, his heirs established the Petr Konchalovsky Foundation, a non-commercial beneficial organization created to consolidate Konchalovsky's legacy. In addition to organizing exhibitions and presentations of Konchalovsky's artworks, the foundation is dedicated to conservation and authentication of the artist's work.

A street in Moscow is named after the artist.

Galleries

File:Pyotr Konchalovsky natasha-on-a-chair-portrait-of-n-p-konchalovskaya-in-childhood-1910.jpg, alt=, Natasha Konchalovskaya on a chair (1910) Pyotr Konchalovsky
File:Pyotr Konchalovsky matador-manuel-gartha-1910.jpg, alt=, Matador Manuel Gartha (1910)
File:Bull fighting by Petr Konchalovsky (1910) 01.jpg, alt=, ''Bullfight'' (1910)
File:Pyotr Konchalovsky bridge-1911.jpg, alt=, ''Bridge'' (1911)
File:Pyotr Konchalovsky cassis-the-view-from-the-window-1913.jpg, alt=, ''Cassis, the view from the window'' (1913)
File:Pyotr Konchalovsky house-in-abramtsevo-1911.jpg, alt=, ''House in Abramtsevo'' (1911)
File:Pyotr Konchalovsky agave-1916.jpg, alt=, ''Agave'' (1916)

File:TREE AGAINST THE SKY 208l19115.jpg, alt=, ''Tree against the sky'' (1923)
File:Russian Museum Collection Hammond Slides 10.jpg, alt=, ''Portrait of Vsevolod Meyerhold'' (1938)
File:P-P-Konchalovskij-Avtoportret-1943-g--ic1976 4564.jpg, alt=, ''Self-portrait'' (1943) Soviet Stamp from 1976
File:WINTER LANDSCAPE. BIRCH TREES 027l19115.jpg, alt=, ''Winter Landscape, birch trees'' (1947)
File:Roses by Pyotr Konchalovsky 1979 USSR Stamp.jpg, alt=, ''Rose'' (1955) Soviet Stamp from 1979

References and sources

;References

;Sources

* V.A.Nikolsky. “Pyotr Konchalovsky”. Moscow, Vsekohudozhnik edition, 1936 (В.А.Никольский. «Петр Петрович Кончаловский». Москва, издательство Всекохудожник, 1936)
* Evgueny Kovtun. Avant Garde Art in Russia (Schools and Movements). Parkstone Press Ltd, 1998.
* Camilla Gray, ''L'Avant-garde russe dans l'art moderne, 1863-1922'', Édition Thames et Hudson, 2003. ISBN 2-87811-218-0.
* Sokolov, Kirill (1978). "P. P. Konchalovsky (1876-1956): On His Methods as a Painter of Pictures". Leonardo. 11 (4): 321–325. ISSN 0024-094X. JSTOR 1573962.
* Volodarskiĭ, Vsevolod Matveevich (1977). Tretyakov Art Gallery: A Guide. Progress Publishers.
* Elliott, David; Dudakov, V. A. (1989). 100 Years of Russian Art, 1889-1989: From Private Collections in the USSR. Lund Humphries. ISBN 978-0-85331-549-0.
* VOKS Bulletin. U.S.S.R. Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. 1956.
* Markov V. Russian futurism: A history. — Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968.

Bibliography

* Jean-Claude Marcadé, ''L'avant-garde russe 1907-1927'', Flammarion, 2007. ISBN 978-2-0812-0786-8.
* Valentine Marcadé, ''Le Renouveau de l'art pictural russe'', Édition l'Âge d'homme, Lausanne, 1971
* Nakov Andréi. L'avant-garde russe. Moscow, Art Publishers, 1991. ISBN 5-210-02162-9 (Наков А. Русский авангард = L'avant-garde russe / Пер. с фр. Е. М. Титаренко. — М.: Искусство, 1991. — 192 с. — 25 000 экз. — ISBN 5-210-02162-9)
* Anfänge des russischen Futurismus / Hrsg. von D. Tschižewskij. — Wiesbaden: Otto Harassowitz, 1963. — 122 S.
* Markov V. Russian futurism: A history. — Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968. — 467 p.
* Barooshian V. D. Russian cubo-futurism 1910-1930: A study in Avant-Gardism. — The Hague; Paris: Mouton, 1974. — 176 p.
* Russian Art of the Avant-Garde. Theory and Criticism 1902—1934 / Ed. by John E. Bowlt. — New York, 1976.
* Shadowa Larissa A. Suche und Experiment. Russische und sowjetische Kunst 1910 bis 1930. — Dresden: VEB Verlag der Kunst Dresden, 1978. — 372 p.
* Zhadova L. Malevich. Suprematism and Revolution in Russian Art 1910—1930. — London: Thames and Hudson, 1982.
* Russische Avantgarde. Vom Primitivismus zum Konstruktivismus / Hrsg. von Bodo Zelinsky. — Bonn, 1983.
* Krieger V. Von der Ikone zur Utopie. Kunstkonzepte der russischen Avantgarde. — Köln, Weimar, Wien, 1988.
* Glossarium der russischen Avantgarde / Hrsg. von A. Flaker. — Graz, Wien: Droschl, 1989. — 548 S.
* L'avant-garde russe et la synthèse des arts / Ed. par Gérard Conio. — Lausanne, 1990.
* Laboratory of Dreams: The Russian Avant-Garde and Cultural Experiment / Ed. by J. E. Boult and O. Matich. — Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996. — P. 360.
* Art of the Soviets: Painting, Sculpture & Architecture in a one-Party State, 1917 – 1992 / eds. by M. Bowm, B. Taylor. Manchester, 1993.
* Baudin A. Le Realism Socialiste Sovietique de la Periode Jdanovienne (1947 – 1953): les Arts Plastiques et leurs Institutions / A. Baudin. Berlin, 1997. Vol. 1.
* Bown M. Socialist Realism Painting / M. Bown. New Haven, 1998.
* Fitzpatrick Sh. The Cultural Front. Power and Culture in Revolutionary Russia / Sh. Fitzpatric. Ithaca; London, 1992.
* Hidden Treasures: Russian and Soviet Impressionism. 1930 – 1970s / ed. by V. Swanson. Scottsdale, 1994.
* Laboratory of Dreams. The Russian Avant-Garde and Cultural Experiment / ed. by J. Bowlt, O. Matich. Stanford,1996.
* Prohorov G. Art Under Socialist Realism: Soviet Painting. 1930 – 1950 / G. Prohorov. East Roseville, 1995.
* Soviet socialist realist painting. 1930s – 1960s / ed. by M. Bown. Oxford, 1992.
* Swanson V. Russian and Soviet Realism, 1930 – 1980 / V. Swanson. Scottsdale, 1993.
* Vasily Rozhdestvensky. Notes of an artist. Moscow, Soviet Artist Publishing House, 1963 (Рождественский В.В. Записки художника. Москва, издательство «Советский художник», 1963)
* Robert Falk. Conversations sur l'art. Courrier. Souvenirs d'un artiste. Moscou, Maison d'édition des artistes soviétiques, 1981. (Р.Р. Фальк. Беседы об искусстве. Письма. Воспоминания о художнике. Москва, издательство «Советский художник», 1981.)

External links

Official Website of the Petr Konchalovsky FoundationArt of Konchalovsky

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konchalovsky, Pyotr
1876 births
1956 deaths
Painters from the Russian Empire
People from Sloviansk
People from Izyumsky Uyezd
Académie Julian alumni
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts alumni
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni
Academic staff of Vkhutemas
People's Artists of the RSFSR (visual arts)
Recipients of the Stalin Prize
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Mikhalkov family
Russian Futurist painters
Socialist realist artists
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
Soviet painters
Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery