Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964) was a Russian avant-garde artist who painted in the style of luchism, which he himself invented. He was a true innovator in painting, always going his own way, often quite strange, which was not always liked by conservative society. If he was born later, probably his art was hardly in demand, but at the turn of the century, when the old traditions in painting began to crumble and something new was needed, he was able to achieve a certain success and be in demand.
Larionov proposed to take an example from children and sign designers, to forget everything that was taught by academicians in the Academy of Arts, to focus on the absurd, because only in this way you can create something new and great.
No less strange and defiant than his paintings was also the personal life of the artist. He married Natalia Goncharova - a great-granddaughter of Pushkin's wife, a woman no less talented and unusual than her artist husband.
But buried in their common grave was another lady who lived with them, and was a very close friend of Larionov. About the unusual life, extravagant paintings and the strange family union of the Larionovs, we will talk in this article.
Rooster. Radiant Etude
Larionov was born in Tiraspol, but did not live there for long - his parents went to Moscow, hoping that life would be better there. He began to show a certain aptitude for art, and therefore entered, when he was 17 years old, the Moscow School of Painting. At that time he met Natalia Goncharova, who became his girlfriend and later his wife.
Portrait of N. S. Goncharova
Michael studied his favorite business, but at first he did not particularly experiment - he wrote ordinary landscapes in the style of impressionism, which were generally praised.
He became acquainted with the work of Claude Monet, and was particularly impressed by the paintings depicting Rouen Cathedral in the morning, afternoon, evening and night. He was interested in how the lighting affected the overall atmosphere and perception of the cathedral. However, there was no Rouen Cathedral nearby, so he decided to start small - to paint a barn at different times of the day.
In the fourth year of the school Larionov was dismissed with a devastating formulation - "for corrupting his comrades". The whole thing is that he wrote several paintings that featured nude women and put them on public display.
Jewish Venus
The management of the school did not appreciate such a step and forbade Larionov to attend classes. But he was very persistent and still came to the school. However, in the summer Mikhail went to Tiraspol, where he painted his impressionist landscapes, where nature was much richer than in Moscow. He painted with an obvious aim to sell - and indeed, his paintings were willingly purchased at exhibitions of the World of Art, moreover, Sergei Diaghilev offered to take part in the Paris exhibition.
Acacia trees in spring (Acacia tops)
Larionov gladly agreed, his paintings, presented at the Autumn Salon, everyone liked, but he himself was surprised to find that Monet's work was already outdated. In the vanguard of art were other artists - Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin. It was necessary to learn from them, so Larionov all his free time studied the paintings of artists, visited museums and exhibitions.
He came back as an innovator, he did not want to repeat what he had already seen, he had to invent something of his own. This is how Larionov's neoprimitivism appeared. However, Larionov's paintings are not a stylization of signs and lubok, it is the very essence of such a view, without irony and the artist's attempt to show that he can write completely different pictures, but here he writes for the people and in the folk style.
An officer's barber
Larionov tries to look at the world and art through the eyes of ordinary people - a soldier, a barber, all the main characters in his paintings, perhaps because they were so convincing despite their avant-garde nature. Several of Larionov's canvases were purchased for exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, and this is a definite indicator of quality.
No sooner had art historians got used to neoprimitivism, as Larionov went even further, this time invented his own artistic direction - luchism. Why write landscapes, portraits, still lifes - for all this has already invented photography, and the artist should look for something new in art.
According to Larionov, all people, regardless of their mental abilities, when experiencing different feelings, emit certain rays - and the artist should write them. Then subject matter becomes unnecessary, and moreover, figurativeness can be abandoned, concentrating on the depiction of rays.
Ray Landscape
Of course, such creativity was not accepted by many people. Larionov and Goncharova decided to resort to the old tried and tested method - scandal. They organize quite original performances. Women should, in Larionov's opinion, walk around with bare breasts, which should be painted or covered with tattoos. He volunteered to do it personally and among the ladies, even at that time, there were brave enough to agree to the first body art.
A bather. Illustration from the lithographed book "Lipstick" by A. Kruchenykh
Larionov urged men to asymmetry in their appearance. Why do I need two mustaches - let there be one, and the second should be shaved off. True, those willing to follow this advice was much less than the ladies, ready to paint the chest.
In 1914 Larionov with Goncharova goes to Paris - to work in the theater. He cooperated with Diaghilev in the organization of the "Russian Seasons", and not only created scenery for performances, but also showed himself as a scriptwriter and even choreographer.
Forest. Set design for the ballet Russian Fairy Tales
Diaghilev commissioned him to work with young dancers, and he managed to nurture several talents, notably Leonid Myasin and Sergei Lifar. In October 1917 Larionov wanted to return to Russia, but his return had to be postponed because of the revolution. The Bolsheviks were no match for him, so Larionov had to stay in Paris.
Self-portrait.
However, with the Parisian bohemia he was on friendly terms, those considered him for his own, for example, he communicated with Pablo Picasso. Accustomed to everything bohemian even not particularly surprised by the strange personal life Larionov. Soon with Larionov and Natalia Goncharova began to live with Natalia's lover - emigrated Menshevik Orest Rosenfeld. Larionov was not in debt and made a friend - escaped from Russia, the daughter of a banker Alexandra Tomilina.
With Tomilina Larionov maintained relations for 30 years, Goncharova, of course, knew about it, but people creative should be above jealousy. In the end he married Goncharova, however, more for practical reasons, so that all the inheritance in the event of death of one of the spouses went to the other. In 1962, Natalia Goncharova died, and two years later, and Mikhail Larionov. Alexandra Tomilina insisted in her will that her ashes be buried in their grave, which was fulfilled.
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