International studio (30.1906/1907(1907))

The Exhibition of Russian Art in Paris


“the old town’’
prevented from expanding beneath the immovable
yoke of ecclesiastical canons, yet we frequently
come across instances of delightful decorative
grace side by side with extraordinary richness of
colour. The Byzantine tradition in these ikons
was perpetuated until the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when Peter the Great attracted
foreign artists to his court. Under the reign of
Elizabeth an academy was founded in St. Peters-
burg, and quite a large number of French and
Italian artists came to live there. They had
an influence on Russian architecture, sculpture
and painting, the depth of which is seen even
to-day. Tocque and Lagrenee, Falconnet,

BY NICHOLAS ROHRICH
Roslin, Moreau le Jeune, and others, came
to Russia in the reign of Catherine II. (1762-
1796), and it was under the influence of ihese
admirable artists that the painters Levitzky (1735-
1822) and Borovikovski (1758-1826) developed
their talent. Both were well represented at the
Grand Palais, the first-named by several charming
portraits of women dancing, and by a whole series
of great personages of the period; and Borovi-
kovski, the chief pupil of Levitzky, by no fewer
than twenty of his canvases, including the por-
traits of the great Catherine and the Emperor
Alexander I. Compared with these two great artists,
Miropolski, Drozhine and Rokotoff are rather
“small beer.” In addition
to these portraitists there
were also several excellent
landscapists, such as Stche-
drine, Alexeieff, Belsky, and
Ivanoff, who, in their charm-
ing views of St. Petersburg,
were obviously inspired by
Canaletto, and in their
decorative park scenes by
Hubert Robert and Vernet.
Temporarily misled
through the “booming” of
the antique by David and
his school, the Slavonic
imagination was somewhat
deeply touched by the
“romantic” shock — as
witness the work of Ivanoff,
Brullow and Orlovski —-
and thence returned, with


BY KOROVIN E

“ THE LOG HUT ”