Lilac is the favorite flower of Andrey Ilyich Kurnakov. It is often found in his landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Each time it sounds different, but always joyful. Artists believe that it is difficult to paint cut lilacs, it fades quickly, and you need to catch the color, aroma, and mood. Andrei Ilyich knew how to do it perfectly.
The name of lilac in Latin, ‘Syringa’ comes from the Greek ‘syrinx’, which means ‘pipe’. According to an ancient Greek legend, the god of forests and fields, the horned and terrible Pan, made a pipe from a reed. He fell in love with the nymph Syringa and haunted her. Escaping, the nymph turned into a beautiful lilac bush.
Lilac bouquets were painted by famous Russian artists: Isaac Levitan, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Vrubel, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Alexander Deineka, Igor Grabar, Alexander Gerasimov. Poets Ilya Selvinsky, Arseny Tarkovsky, Yaroslav Smelyakov, Teffi, Igor Severyanin, Osip Mandelstam wrote about lilacs.
Give me the joy of tender hello,
Put your wreath on my curls!
- On the heyday of joyful summer
White lilacs were blooming.
Teffi. ‘A Song of White Lilacs’.
In front of us is a living room with an oval table in the center. On the table, on a patterned, elegant tablecloth, the artist picturesquely placed a glass decanter with golden cognac, three glasses, a porcelain tea cup and saucer with an elegant dark purple pattern, and a bright yellow lemon on a porcelain dessert plate. In the back is a dark wood drawer, the top of which is covered with a white lace napkin, next to the table, slightly in the back to the right, is an open piano. The house is cozy.
But the main point of the picture is lilac. The artist placed it in three vases: transparent colorless crystal with geometric patterns, faceted dark glass and ceramic greenish-blue. Three huge bouquets of lilac, white, pink, purple lilacs are the center of the composition. The artist paints ‘a deep swoon of lilacs’, leaving with broad strokes small drops of paint on the canvas in place of the flower. This makes the bouquets more voluminous, you want to touch them. Five red tulips inserted into lilacs like five flaming dots are eye-catching. The room is filled with the tart scent of lilacs, we can almost smell it. And at the very edge of the table is a small flat round vase with cute touching flowers. Pansies - purple, white, bluish cheerily look at us.
This picture breathes with joy, peace and happiness. The composition of a floral still life is traditional for Andrei Ilyich: three vessels, several different bouquets. This is how Andrei Ilyich’s first favorite teacher Nikolai Nikolaevich Morevsky (1891-1977) painted his still lifes, and the student learned his lesson well. The gallery exhibits a portrait of Morevsky, lovingly painted by Kurnakov.
As I opened the window, the sadness become unbearable,
Kneel before it
And the smell of the spring night rushed to my face
With the fragrant breath of lilacs.
K.R. (Prince Konstantin Romanov)
The name of lilac in Latin, ‘Syringa’ comes from the Greek ‘syrinx’, which means ‘pipe’. According to an ancient Greek legend, the god of forests and fields, the horned and terrible Pan, made a pipe from a reed. He fell in love with the nymph Syringa and haunted her. Escaping, the nymph turned into a beautiful lilac bush.
Lilac bouquets were painted by famous Russian artists: Isaac Levitan, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Vrubel, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Alexander Deineka, Igor Grabar, Alexander Gerasimov. Poets Ilya Selvinsky, Arseny Tarkovsky, Yaroslav Smelyakov, Teffi, Igor Severyanin, Osip Mandelstam wrote about lilacs.
Give me the joy of tender hello,
Put your wreath on my curls!
- On the heyday of joyful summer
White lilacs were blooming.
Teffi. ‘A Song of White Lilacs’.
In front of us is a living room with an oval table in the center. On the table, on a patterned, elegant tablecloth, the artist picturesquely placed a glass decanter with golden cognac, three glasses, a porcelain tea cup and saucer with an elegant dark purple pattern, and a bright yellow lemon on a porcelain dessert plate. In the back is a dark wood drawer, the top of which is covered with a white lace napkin, next to the table, slightly in the back to the right, is an open piano. The house is cozy.
But the main point of the picture is lilac. The artist placed it in three vases: transparent colorless crystal with geometric patterns, faceted dark glass and ceramic greenish-blue. Three huge bouquets of lilac, white, pink, purple lilacs are the center of the composition. The artist paints ‘a deep swoon of lilacs’, leaving with broad strokes small drops of paint on the canvas in place of the flower. This makes the bouquets more voluminous, you want to touch them. Five red tulips inserted into lilacs like five flaming dots are eye-catching. The room is filled with the tart scent of lilacs, we can almost smell it. And at the very edge of the table is a small flat round vase with cute touching flowers. Pansies - purple, white, bluish cheerily look at us.
This picture breathes with joy, peace and happiness. The composition of a floral still life is traditional for Andrei Ilyich: three vessels, several different bouquets. This is how Andrei Ilyich’s first favorite teacher Nikolai Nikolaevich Morevsky (1891-1977) painted his still lifes, and the student learned his lesson well. The gallery exhibits a portrait of Morevsky, lovingly painted by Kurnakov.
As I opened the window, the sadness become unbearable,
Kneel before it
And the smell of the spring night rushed to my face
With the fragrant breath of lilacs.
K.R. (Prince Konstantin Romanov)
