Lentulov Aristarkh

Church 39,7x30,7 cm, watercolor on paper, 1916

Aristarkh Vasilyevich Lentulov (1882-1943) – an outstanding Russian artist, one of the founders of the Russian avant-garde. He was born in a family of a rural priest, studied at a theological school and theological seminary, at the Penza Art College named after N.D. Seliverstov at N.K. Grandkovsky, P.I. Korovin, A.F. Afanasyev (1898-1900 and 1905), Kiev Art College (1900-1904) and D.N. Kardovsky in St. Petersburg (1906-1910). In 1911-12, he studied with the cubists A. Le Focognier and J. Metzenge in Paris. Founding member of the Jack of Diamonds and the Society of Moscow Artists, member of the Moscow Painters Society. Folklore, sometimes far-fetched rudeness, the expressiveness of the primitive, the appeal of the “bubovoviet” to the folk sources distinguished them from the search for artists of the older generation. Artists who were part of the Jack of Diamonds association, among whom was A. Lentulov at the first exhibitions, sought to outrage the audience, through scandal and provocation, to make her re-evaluate the world around him. In 1916-1917, A. Lentulov, together with P Konchalovsky, I. Mashkov, A. Kuprina, V. Rozhdestvensky and R. Falk joined the World of Art association. The master was exhibited at the 1st exhibition of the Penza artists circle, at the exhibitions Wreath, Jack of Diamonds, Peace art “and other international exhibitions in Paris, Venice, Zurich, Bern. Since 1910, the square He worked as a stage designer, designed many performances, the role of A. Lentulov and as a teacher was significant, he taught at the Higher art and technical workshops (since 1920), at the Moscow State Art Institute (1937-43).

In the early period of creativity, the artist was the most consistent cubo-futurist. Particularly famous were his images of ancient church architecture, embodied in enchanting and festive spectacles – the temples here seem to crumble or, on the contrary, are built from colorful elements. The presented work “Church” is one of the “kaleidoscopic” city landscapes. The artist has developed a distinctive type of futuristic panel that treats the world as a whirlwind of dynamic colors and shapes. The dynamism caused by the fragmentation of the planes and their almost chaotic turns, color contrasts and shifts of shapes oppose the image of the city. In the work of fantastic piling there is not only fabulously vivid, but also destructive forms that instill the idea of ​​the collapse of the world. The rebellious, revolutionary spirit of the painting of A. Lentulov was seized by the poet Velimir Khlebnikov as a seer, who wrote: “The bell towers sloped with high lumen, like a man who was bent over and grabbed by the belly or grabbed in several places … A storm passed through the painting; later it will go through life; and the bells will break a lot. ” Since the early 1920s A. Lentulov moves from huge panel paintings to works of smaller scale and more full-scale. Having become the chairman of the Society of Moscow Artists (which united in 1928 the majority of “bubovovaletov”), he goes on to tonal painting, slightly preserving the shades of the former forcing of color; creates landscapes, portraits, still lifes.

The artist himself once said: “When I work, I live at that moment with all the feelings of poetics. The object serving as my model ceases to be such at that time – whether it be a landscape, still life, the body of a model, etc. I love him, this an object, in every centimeter of its being, I see an abundance of the subtlest shades of color, and they awaken a sense of harmony, melody in me.All this is not nonsense or a pathetic mood, but all this is directly alive, connected with the soul of one or another object that I write”.

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