Already in 1880s Konstantin Korovin became interested in the new artistic trend in Russia, and his artwork ‘Portrait of a chorus girl’ was called ‘the first shot in Russian impressionism’. In addition to impressionist landscape paintings and still life paintings, the artist created theater sets and designed pavilions for national and international exhibitions, as well as wrote short stories and memoir essays.

Konstantin Korovin was born in Moscow in a wealthy merchant’s family. At the age of 14, he entered the architectural department of the Moscow school of painting, sculpture and architecture, where he later became a lecturer. Among his students were Alexander Gerasimov, Ilya Mashkov, Robert Falk and other artists who later became famous.

Konstantin Korovin was a member of the Union of Russian Artists, “World of Art” society, and the Abramtsev society which was an informal association of composers, writers, and artists who created their artworks at the Savva Mamontov’s estate. Korovin also worked as an artist at the Bolshoi theater and as an artist-consultant for the Moscow Imperial theaters. He created the design for over 100 performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In 1900s, Konstantin Korovin bought a country house in Gurzuf and named it ‘Salambo’. This was the name of the ballet based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert — the artist was working on it at the time.

In 1910–1917, Korovin was spending a lot of time in the Crimea and created may of his artworks here. He created the landscape painting ‘Gurzuf’ in 1913. This is the time when the artist’s view of the world became finalized: he began to express the beauty of the world primarily in the richness of colors. Korovin’s favorite theme, landscapes with water, was expressed in this painting. He painted Gurzuf at the sunset, the last rays of the sun make all the objects look especially bright and colorful. The picture was painted with a wide brushstrokes — for the artist details were not so important, he wanted to express the general spirit of the landscape.