A Russian impressionist and teacher, Dmitry Scherbinovsky was born in 1867 to a merchant family based near Saratov. On the insistence of his parents, he got a degree in law from the Moscow State University, however, in 1891, he enrolled at St. Petersburg Academy of Arts to learn from great Russian painters Pavel Chistyakov and Ilya Repin who had a high appreciation for the young artist’s talent. In 1915, he was admitted as a member to the Association of Travelling Art Exhibits (Association of the Itinerants). He was a frequent participant of their exhibitions.
Despite his early recognition, through the years, Scherbinovsky got more and more focused on teaching. In 1904, he joined the faculty of Stroganov School of Art in Moscow, and after the revolution he taught his own class on anatomy in arts at VKHUTEMAS (Higher Art and Technical Studios). Among his students were such famous painters as Andrey Goncharov, Alexander Deyneka, and Alexander Labas.
The Steamboat landscape of 1902 is an impressionist one. The forefront of the painting is a steam tugboat with puffs of steam emanating from its stacks. On the decks of the steamboat, one can barely see a rowboat and people who seem busy. There is another rowboat on the side of the tug. The thickness of the fog and steam makes the left shore of the river barely visible, with only a hint of trees and a village.
The landscape pursues a cold palette. The restless surface of the river is mostly in gray, blue and greenish tones, and in some parts of the painting there are specks of purple and pink. The painting was exhibited at the Exhibition of Academic Art and immediately found its buyer. It was purchased by Empress.
Scherbinovsky died in Moscow in 1926. By then, his paintings had been scattered around many a museum throughout the Soviet Union, and his artistic heritage was almost forgotten. At his post-mortem exhibition in 1927, critics called him a “widely unknown painter who showed great promise when young in the 1890”s”, and they said he was a gifted “more than many of his luckier peers”.
Nevertheless, specialists believe Scherbinovsky a major master of the early 20th century and note his paintings for their professionalism and the ultimately exquisite pursuance of styles that were most up-to-date at that time. The broadness, freshness and richness of colors, wide strokes, precision in translating textures, air and light onto canvas, and the very treatment of what he paints are all so inherent to the painter’s works. Critics say that his early paintings carry the spirit of ‘Nordic impressionism because of the wide strokes and the ashen-gray palette’.
Despite his early recognition, through the years, Scherbinovsky got more and more focused on teaching. In 1904, he joined the faculty of Stroganov School of Art in Moscow, and after the revolution he taught his own class on anatomy in arts at VKHUTEMAS (Higher Art and Technical Studios). Among his students were such famous painters as Andrey Goncharov, Alexander Deyneka, and Alexander Labas.
The Steamboat landscape of 1902 is an impressionist one. The forefront of the painting is a steam tugboat with puffs of steam emanating from its stacks. On the decks of the steamboat, one can barely see a rowboat and people who seem busy. There is another rowboat on the side of the tug. The thickness of the fog and steam makes the left shore of the river barely visible, with only a hint of trees and a village.
The landscape pursues a cold palette. The restless surface of the river is mostly in gray, blue and greenish tones, and in some parts of the painting there are specks of purple and pink. The painting was exhibited at the Exhibition of Academic Art and immediately found its buyer. It was purchased by Empress.
Scherbinovsky died in Moscow in 1926. By then, his paintings had been scattered around many a museum throughout the Soviet Union, and his artistic heritage was almost forgotten. At his post-mortem exhibition in 1927, critics called him a “widely unknown painter who showed great promise when young in the 1890”s”, and they said he was a gifted “more than many of his luckier peers”.
Nevertheless, specialists believe Scherbinovsky a major master of the early 20th century and note his paintings for their professionalism and the ultimately exquisite pursuance of styles that were most up-to-date at that time. The broadness, freshness and richness of colors, wide strokes, precision in translating textures, air and light onto canvas, and the very treatment of what he paints are all so inherent to the painter’s works. Critics say that his early paintings carry the spirit of ‘Nordic impressionism because of the wide strokes and the ashen-gray palette’.
