Stanislav Zhukovsky is a Russian painter of Polish ancestry. Father insisted that Zhukovsky should study the exact sciences, but against his will, in 1892, the artist left for Moscow and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. At that time, Vasily Polenov and Isaac Levitan were teachers at the school. They had a great influence on the formation of Zhukovsky’s painting technique.
During his studies, Zhukovsky created mainly lyrical landscapes — at first restrained, strict in color, but then more bright, colorful, free. He preferred to paint from life and work quickly.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Zhukovsky had become one of the most famous impressionist landscape painters in Russia. Exhibitions of his works were opened one after another; well-known collectors, in particular Pavel Tretyakov, willingly purchased his paintings.
In 1907, Zhukovsky was awarded the honorary title of the Academician of Painting of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts for his “fame in the artistic field”. He participated in exhibitions of the influential art association “Mir iskusstva” [“World of Art”] and the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions, he joined the latter in 1903.
Zhukovsky was attracted by way of life of the old nobility, he traveled a lot across Central Russia to study the ancient “noble nests”. Gradually, the main subjects of his works were manor parks and rooms with windows open to the garden. The painting “Interior” is a typical example of the work from this cycle. It combines elements of landscape and interior painting. Zhukovsky depicted light and shadows, volume, texture of objects and perspective so that the viewers perceived the house and the surrounding nature as a whole. Carefully selected color combinations enhanced this effect.
During his studies, Zhukovsky created mainly lyrical landscapes — at first restrained, strict in color, but then more bright, colorful, free. He preferred to paint from life and work quickly.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Zhukovsky had become one of the most famous impressionist landscape painters in Russia. Exhibitions of his works were opened one after another; well-known collectors, in particular Pavel Tretyakov, willingly purchased his paintings.
In 1907, Zhukovsky was awarded the honorary title of the Academician of Painting of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts for his “fame in the artistic field”. He participated in exhibitions of the influential art association “Mir iskusstva” [“World of Art”] and the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions, he joined the latter in 1903.
Zhukovsky was attracted by way of life of the old nobility, he traveled a lot across Central Russia to study the ancient “noble nests”. Gradually, the main subjects of his works were manor parks and rooms with windows open to the garden. The painting “Interior” is a typical example of the work from this cycle. It combines elements of landscape and interior painting. Zhukovsky depicted light and shadows, volume, texture of objects and perspective so that the viewers perceived the house and the surrounding nature as a whole. Carefully selected color combinations enhanced this effect.
After the October Revolution in 1917, Zhukovsky’s art turned out to be unwelcome in the new Russia — it was declared ideologically harmful. In 1923, the artist moved to Poland, where he continued to work and opened a private painting school. He still devoted his canvases to the bygone era. During the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Zhukovsky was arrested by the Nazis. In the same year, he died in a concentration camp in Pruszkow, Poland. Many of his paintings were destroyed or lost.
