The Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts presents an engraving “Celebration in Gatchina” by Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinsky.
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky’s childhood love for Saint Petersburg eventually developed into a deep sense of worship and reverence for this great city. The artist often painted wonderful cityscapes of that royal, majestic, and measured Saint Petersburg and its charming surroundings. Dobuzhinsky became part of the World of Art association, and this inevitably influenced his style. His paintings were close to retrospectivism, which main characteristics were an idealized view of the past and an aspiration to accurately convey the spirit of the past. In general, the artist gravitated towards the genre of urban landscape.
Later, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky gained some tremendous experience as a set decorator and even engaged in designing ballet productions. He was invited to Paris to work as a scene painter. Through his collaboration with the performing arts, Dobuzhinsky was introduced to many dramatic aspects of life. The theater largely became the focus of Dobuzhinsky’s interests, but that did not mean that the artist lost interest in other forms of art. On the contrary, in the 1910s, he turned to monumental and decorative art and engraving. At the same time, the artist was actively updating the system of drawing from life; he would also develop a new manner of book illustration. Moreover, Dobuzhinsky clearly decided to reconsider his dead set attitude to the visual means as a kind of reaction to his previous views. The resulting fusion of love for theatricality and fine art can be witnessed in the autolithography “Celebration in Gatchina” presented at the exhibition.
