Pavel Kuznetsov was one of the founders of the artistic association ‘Blue Rose’ and a leader of a new artistic trend. The members of the ‘Blue Rose’ adhered to the values of the symbolism seeking after transcendence, ‘something beyond limits’. Kuznetsov didn’t refuse the symbolism stylistics even after the revolution of 1917 that carried radical changes in the ethics and aesthetics of the Russian art.
The so-called “eastern series” brought real fame to the painter. Art historian Abram Efros believed that Kuznetsov travelled to the Orient in search for a world out of civilization, a world of harmony and purity, and this decision was influenced by the works of Paul Gauguin that the painter saw in Paris in 1906.
The first eastern series was painted in the 1911-1916s when Kuznetsov lived in the Kirghiz steppe to the east of Saratov, his native land. The painter went on a trip around the towns of the Central Asia, he used to visit Samarkand and Bukhara.
The second eastern series was painted in the 1918-1920s down the memory lane of his journeys. At that period, he mainly worked at landscapes and still-life paintings – these genres are combined in the picture A balcony that is exhibited at the Astrakhan Art Gallery.
The horizontal line of the balcony’s fence can be perceived as a borderline dividing the view of an oriental town and the table with several objects that are picturesquely arranged on it. In the background one can see the schematic depiction of the houses situated along the slope. They are covered with the blue haze that makes the landscape look a kind of illusive.
The still-life elements of the picture are painted in a different way: the colours are denser and more intensive but still gentle. They are closer to the viewer and look more individual and explicit. The objects are diversified: the dishes and the fruits are placed all over the table, they almost overlay each other and their silhouettes somewhere look like the ornamental pattern of the tablecloth decorated with the large images of roses.
Kuznetsov used a circular rhythm and concentrated lines and forms in the middle of the canvas to achieve harmony at the painting.
The so-called “eastern series” brought real fame to the painter. Art historian Abram Efros believed that Kuznetsov travelled to the Orient in search for a world out of civilization, a world of harmony and purity, and this decision was influenced by the works of Paul Gauguin that the painter saw in Paris in 1906.
The first eastern series was painted in the 1911-1916s when Kuznetsov lived in the Kirghiz steppe to the east of Saratov, his native land. The painter went on a trip around the towns of the Central Asia, he used to visit Samarkand and Bukhara.
The second eastern series was painted in the 1918-1920s down the memory lane of his journeys. At that period, he mainly worked at landscapes and still-life paintings – these genres are combined in the picture A balcony that is exhibited at the Astrakhan Art Gallery.
The horizontal line of the balcony’s fence can be perceived as a borderline dividing the view of an oriental town and the table with several objects that are picturesquely arranged on it. In the background one can see the schematic depiction of the houses situated along the slope. They are covered with the blue haze that makes the landscape look a kind of illusive.
The still-life elements of the picture are painted in a different way: the colours are denser and more intensive but still gentle. They are closer to the viewer and look more individual and explicit. The objects are diversified: the dishes and the fruits are placed all over the table, they almost overlay each other and their silhouettes somewhere look like the ornamental pattern of the tablecloth decorated with the large images of roses.
Kuznetsov used a circular rhythm and concentrated lines and forms in the middle of the canvas to achieve harmony at the painting.
