Pokhitonov Ivan

Pink geranium in a terracotta pot 25,5x21,5 cm, oil on board
About work

(Українська) Представлена ​​робота “Рожева герань в теракотовому горщику” – це типова “похітоновская” картина-мініатюра, написана з великою любов’ю, трепетом і високою майстерністю.

Вона створена в характерній для художника техніці. Зазвичай він писав на паркетованих основах з червоного або лимонного дерева, вони покривалися мастикою і витримувалися в такому вигляді роки.

Художник працював за допомогою луп, вимірників, часто використовував мастихіни, скальпелі і найтонші пензлі. Кожен шар свого живопису майстер висушував при звичайній температурі і ретельно полірував риб’ячою кісткою. За допомогою такої техніки мальовнича поверхню ставала гладкою, рівною і блискучою, вона могла зберігатися довгі десятиліття.

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In the 19th century, a funny story from the life of the artist Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov (1850-1923) was popular among the Wanderers. Once in Paris, they organized a comic contest for the best miniature. It was required to enter the picture in a small gold coin. Ernest Meissonier, a famous French artist in the past, painted a female portrait on her. Perhaps this added to his fame, if not a competitor. It turned out to be Ivan Pokhitonov, who managed to put three riders on horseback in a coin, for which he received the first prize. Such impeccable craftsmanship looks even more surprising when you consider that he did not immediately become an artist.

Ivan Pavlovich Pokhntonov is a Russian painter, landscape painter who has lived most of his life in Europe. He was born into the family of a Kherson landowner. At first he studied at the Cadet Corps in Poltava, and since 1867 – at a real gymnasium in Nikolaev. In 1868 he entered the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Agricultural and Forestry Academy in Moscow, but in 1869 he was expelled from it for participating in the food circle, as a result of which he was expelled to the village of Matrenovka under police supervision.

In the years 1870-1871. studied at Novorossiysk University in Odessa at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, was fond of zoology and ornithology. At first, art for him was nothing more than entertainment – he copied engravings, painted portraits of his relatives and peasants, as well as landscapes, in oil. When he went to Geneva with his mother and sold several of his works there to local merchants, he had a firm intention to seriously engage in painting. The choice of I. Pokhitonov was also influenced by the exhibition of the Wanderers, organized in Odessa in 1876. According to the artist himself, at the exhibition he “… first faced real art.”

In the same year, I. Pokhitonov left for Italy, and a year later he settled in Paris, where he studied with A. Bogolyubov, a member of the Council of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and the head of Russian pensioners in Paris. A. Bogolyubov managed to instill in I. Pohitonov a fascination with the art of contemporary French landscape painters, as well as a deep interest in natural studies, as the basis for a living perception of nature. In Paris, the artist became close to I.E. Repin and V.D. Polenov. Later he worked in the workshop of E. Career.

I. Pokhitonov tried to achieve the impossible: to preserve the freshness of a natural study and at the same time give it a picture completeness, which he sees, first of all, in compositional harmony. He is attracted to images of undisturbed silence.

The skill of I. Pokhitonov was very quickly and appreciated by the French public. Since 1879, he regularly exhibited his works in the French Salon. At that time, the desire for miniature paintings was highly appreciated. This was seen as a certain uniqueness and a sign of mastery of the highest class. The successes of I. Pokhitonov in France were also noticed in Russia. Several works were acquired by the Imperial Court. Soon I. Pokhitonov received the highest order for the image of Russian monasteries and ancient cities. Since the early 1880s the master sought to participate in the artistic life of Russia. In 1883, his paintings were exhibited at a traveling exhibition, and the artist himself repeatedly came to his homeland, mainly working in Ukraine.

I. Pokhitonov, continuing the search for the picturesque truth, independently comes to impressionism. He begins to paint with pure colors, trying to convey all the richness of the colors of the world. At this time he visited Italy, where he worked a lot and fruitfully on Italian landscapes.

At the beginning of the XX century. I. Pokhitonov became a truly recognized master. His paintings were regularly exhibited both in the Paris Salon and at the exhibitions of the Wanderers in Russia. At heart, he always considered himself Russian. He was concerned about the trace that he left behind in Russian art, and therefore the nature of his homeland attracted him to him. In 1901, he bought a small estate Zhabovshchina in the Minsk province, where the artist moved for a while. In 1919, the artist leaves Russia, leaves forever in Belgium.

In 1925, his memorial exhibition was held in Liege. In 1963, an exhibition of the artist’s works was held at the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The presented work “Pink Geranium in a Terracotta Pot” is a typical “Pokhiton” miniature painting, painted with great love, awe and high skill. It was created in the technique characteristic of the artist. Usually he wrote on the parquet cheeks of mahogany or lemon wood, they were covered with mastic and kept in this form for years. The artist worked with the help of loops, meters, often used palette knives, scalpels and the finest brushes. The master dried each layer of his painting at ordinary temperature and carefully polished it with fish bone. Using this technique, the painted surface became smooth, even and shiny, it could be stored for decades.

“One needs to go through such a serious school in the West as Pokhitonov went to understand the secret of this so-called“ technical youth, ”said V. Petrov. Refined craftsmanship, detailed

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Works IN COLLECTION