International studio (56.1915)

Studio-Talk


PAINTED WOODEN TOYS. DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY

VLADIMIR POLUNIN

interesting artist. The lovers of graphic art may
still remember his exhibition of etchings held some
three years ago when his use of the medium,
resulting in sternly monumental yet completely
graphic effects, attracted the attention of many an
etcher and expert. His painting of the drop-scene
for Mozart’s “ Magic Flute,” produced last season
by Mr. Beecham, was a piece of highly imaginative
work instinct with the mystic spirit, whilst his pictures
and frescoes reveal in him
a master alive to the

are sculpturesque to an extent which is
seldom met with in ordinary sculptures.
Equally remarkable are the other sets.
Here form and colour assist each other
in producing the impression of solidity
which is light and full of careless joy.
The figures may be conveniently
divided into three groups : the cubic,
the round, and the flat. Form is the
predominating element in the cubic
figures and is used as the means of
expressing their character. Their
fantastic appearance, notwithstanding
their angularity, is more realistic
than any of the ‘true to nature’
modern toys. The two knights, for instance, can
hardly be surpassed : their characterisation is
complete, and life seems to palpitate in every
particle of the wood of which they are made. But
here is the mastery of true art : they remain toys,
your obedient servants which you can turn and twist
in any way you like and are always mere marionettes
in your skilful hands. The exquisite colouring of
these knights gives a resonant combination of

peculiar nature of each
medium used, and capable
of uttering an origina
word distinct in feeling and
expression. But of all M.
Polunin’s works his toys
are perhaps the most im-
mediately appealing and
fascinating. There are so
many of them, and they
are so different, each
standing for some peculiar
form of reality, each carry-
ing its own message.
“ Here are the animals,
quite a menagerie of them;
the elephant, the lion and
the tiger, the hippopotamus
and the rhinoceros, and a
number of others. This
set is one of the best in
M. Polunin’s collection.
What seems so fascinating
about them is the extra-
ordinary feeling for mass
and volume which they so
strikingly reveal. They
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TAINTED WOODEN TOYS

DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY VLADIMIR POLUNIN