Studio-Talk
self to the new tendencies. It was a time of ■—inherited, perhaps, from his Polish ancestors—■
earnest thought and experiment. A collective ex- exercised, in conjunction with his oft-times masterly
hibition of his works at the National Salon some technique, an invigorating and fruitful influence
two or three years ago showed that during the after a long period during which realistic painting
four years of his abstention from the exhibitions was predominant in Russian art. The ridicule
he was patiently working and pondering over the and sarcasm with which Vroubel's works were
problems of his art; and it showed, too, that in the greeted on their first appearance, gave place by
end Mark's strong individuality asserted itself, degrees to recognition and frank admiration on
Since then he has been making steady and con- the part of all with a genuine love of art. And,
sistent progress. R. M. in particular, the new romanticists and the deco-
rative painters of the modern Russian school, look
OSCOW.—The death of Michael Vroubel up to Michael Vroubel as a master and a pioneer.
has robbed Russian art of one of its
I V 1 most brilliant and most original Yet a further loss to Russian art has to be re-
•* * * personalities. He was only 54 years corded this year in the death from heart failure of
of age, but for some years past he had suffered Sergei Vassilievitch Ivanoff, at the age of forty-six.
from an incurable complaint which incapacitated Unlike Vroubel, however, who had for years ceased
him for work. It is proposed to hold a posthumous his activity as an artist, death overtook Ivanoff
exhibition of his works this autumn, which will when he was at the height of his powers. The
afford an opportunity for making an estimate of deceased artist received his early training at the
his achievements, although one of the most Ecole des Beaux-Arts in this city, and for the last
important aspects of his art will not be represented decade discharged the function of professor in this
—I mean his monumental paintings, in which the institution. He belonged to the group of Moscow
diverse emanations of his genius were
perhaps most completely focussed. His
ceuvre comprehends practically every
branch of the plastic arts. We have
easel pictures of his in various mediums,
and large mural paintings with religious
as well as secular motives; he was an
illustrator and painted theatre decora-
tions ; he occupied himself with applied
art, and left behind a whole series of
sculptural works. And in every one
of these directions he achieved much
that was beautiful and original, and
often great. Joined with a fertile imagi-
nation, he possessed an unerring sense
of the decoratively effective and an
uncommonly fine feeling for colour. In
his works are to be found, side by side
with purely Russian motives, reminis-
cences of Classic, Gothic, and Renais-
sance art, as well as that of the Orient,
especially India, but every composition
bears unmistakably the impress of a
strongly-marked individuality and an
entirely subjective facture. Vroubel
had no disciples in the strict sense of
the word, but his. art has had a con-
siderable influence on the younger
generation of Russian artists. The pre-
eminently decorative value of his crea-
tions, the romantic strain in his fantasy portrait of s. v. ivan
80
by j. eraz
self to the new tendencies. It was a time of ■—inherited, perhaps, from his Polish ancestors—■
earnest thought and experiment. A collective ex- exercised, in conjunction with his oft-times masterly
hibition of his works at the National Salon some technique, an invigorating and fruitful influence
two or three years ago showed that during the after a long period during which realistic painting
four years of his abstention from the exhibitions was predominant in Russian art. The ridicule
he was patiently working and pondering over the and sarcasm with which Vroubel's works were
problems of his art; and it showed, too, that in the greeted on their first appearance, gave place by
end Mark's strong individuality asserted itself, degrees to recognition and frank admiration on
Since then he has been making steady and con- the part of all with a genuine love of art. And,
sistent progress. R. M. in particular, the new romanticists and the deco-
rative painters of the modern Russian school, look
OSCOW.—The death of Michael Vroubel up to Michael Vroubel as a master and a pioneer.
has robbed Russian art of one of its
I V 1 most brilliant and most original Yet a further loss to Russian art has to be re-
•* * * personalities. He was only 54 years corded this year in the death from heart failure of
of age, but for some years past he had suffered Sergei Vassilievitch Ivanoff, at the age of forty-six.
from an incurable complaint which incapacitated Unlike Vroubel, however, who had for years ceased
him for work. It is proposed to hold a posthumous his activity as an artist, death overtook Ivanoff
exhibition of his works this autumn, which will when he was at the height of his powers. The
afford an opportunity for making an estimate of deceased artist received his early training at the
his achievements, although one of the most Ecole des Beaux-Arts in this city, and for the last
important aspects of his art will not be represented decade discharged the function of professor in this
—I mean his monumental paintings, in which the institution. He belonged to the group of Moscow
diverse emanations of his genius were
perhaps most completely focussed. His
ceuvre comprehends practically every
branch of the plastic arts. We have
easel pictures of his in various mediums,
and large mural paintings with religious
as well as secular motives; he was an
illustrator and painted theatre decora-
tions ; he occupied himself with applied
art, and left behind a whole series of
sculptural works. And in every one
of these directions he achieved much
that was beautiful and original, and
often great. Joined with a fertile imagi-
nation, he possessed an unerring sense
of the decoratively effective and an
uncommonly fine feeling for colour. In
his works are to be found, side by side
with purely Russian motives, reminis-
cences of Classic, Gothic, and Renais-
sance art, as well as that of the Orient,
especially India, but every composition
bears unmistakably the impress of a
strongly-marked individuality and an
entirely subjective facture. Vroubel
had no disciples in the strict sense of
the word, but his. art has had a con-
siderable influence on the younger
generation of Russian artists. The pre-
eminently decorative value of his crea-
tions, the romantic strain in his fantasy portrait of s. v. ivan
80
by j. eraz