At times, inscriptions, stamps or stickers on the back of the canvas or on the stretcher store important information about the painting and its creator. ‘Still life’ by Ilya Mashkov, which is displayed in the museum, is a great example of this.
A sticker, on which the artist wrote down the title of the painting ‘Still life with pork’, is preserved on the back of the canvas. The painting belonged to the Museum Bureau of the Department of Fine Arts of the People’s Commissariat for Education, also known as Izo-Narkompros. The bureau was responsible for art education on the territory of the Soviet Union and purchased artworks for museums. Ilya Mashkov was a member of the Moscow Izo-Narkompros, which is why, according to art researchers, the ‘Still life’ was purchased for a museum in Moscow. It was later transferred to the State Museum Fund and in 1925 it was moved to the Kovalenko Art Museum.
Furthermore, a customs stamp from the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof station can be seen on the painting. This stamp was placed on all artworks, which were brought to the First Russian Art Exhibition at the van Diemen Art Gallery. It was opened as a result of an agreement between Anatoly Lunacharsky, People’s Commissar of Narkompros, and Edwin Redslob, ‘national art guardian’ of the Weimar Republic. 704 works created by 157 artists, mostly representatives of the ‘left’ avant-garde art, were displayed at the exhibition.
Ilya Mashkov created the ‘Still life’ in 1915. This period of his work is referred to by critics as the ‘cezannism’ period: he took inspiration from the famous French post-impressionist Paul Cezanne. In the ‘Still life’ one can see the characteristic features of this movement: bright joyous colors and a certain decorativeness.
Ilya Mashkov was born in the Volgograd Oblast in 1881. He started working early: he worked as an assistant in retail stores, and painted in his spare time. A teacher of a local gymnasium noticed his interest in art and advised the novice artist to get a professional education. In 1899, Mashkov entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1904, he was expelled and opened his own school of painting. Artists Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova and Pyotr Konchalovsky taught there.
The school operated up until 1917. In the 1910s the ‘Jack of Diamonds’ group of artists was formed around it. The artists contrasted their crude painting style, emphasized materiality and ‘down-to-earthness’ with the academic and symbolist art. The exhibitions which were held by the Jack of Diamonds artists in the beginning of the 20th century provoked an ambiguous reaction from critics and contemporaries.
A sticker, on which the artist wrote down the title of the painting ‘Still life with pork’, is preserved on the back of the canvas. The painting belonged to the Museum Bureau of the Department of Fine Arts of the People’s Commissariat for Education, also known as Izo-Narkompros. The bureau was responsible for art education on the territory of the Soviet Union and purchased artworks for museums. Ilya Mashkov was a member of the Moscow Izo-Narkompros, which is why, according to art researchers, the ‘Still life’ was purchased for a museum in Moscow. It was later transferred to the State Museum Fund and in 1925 it was moved to the Kovalenko Art Museum.
Furthermore, a customs stamp from the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof station can be seen on the painting. This stamp was placed on all artworks, which were brought to the First Russian Art Exhibition at the van Diemen Art Gallery. It was opened as a result of an agreement between Anatoly Lunacharsky, People’s Commissar of Narkompros, and Edwin Redslob, ‘national art guardian’ of the Weimar Republic. 704 works created by 157 artists, mostly representatives of the ‘left’ avant-garde art, were displayed at the exhibition.
Ilya Mashkov created the ‘Still life’ in 1915. This period of his work is referred to by critics as the ‘cezannism’ period: he took inspiration from the famous French post-impressionist Paul Cezanne. In the ‘Still life’ one can see the characteristic features of this movement: bright joyous colors and a certain decorativeness.
Ilya Mashkov was born in the Volgograd Oblast in 1881. He started working early: he worked as an assistant in retail stores, and painted in his spare time. A teacher of a local gymnasium noticed his interest in art and advised the novice artist to get a professional education. In 1899, Mashkov entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1904, he was expelled and opened his own school of painting. Artists Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova and Pyotr Konchalovsky taught there.
The school operated up until 1917. In the 1910s the ‘Jack of Diamonds’ group of artists was formed around it. The artists contrasted their crude painting style, emphasized materiality and ‘down-to-earthness’ with the academic and symbolist art. The exhibitions which were held by the Jack of Diamonds artists in the beginning of the 20th century provoked an ambiguous reaction from critics and contemporaries.
