The quivering spring landscape ‘Lilacs in Bloom’ was painted by the painter Mikhail Utkin. He was born in the town of Teikovo, Ivanovo region, in 1925. Before the Great Patriotic War, he was admitted to the Ivanovo School of Arts, but in 1942 he volunteered for frontline duty. Having returned with the Patriotic War’s Order, second grade, he continued his education as a painter. Having graduated from the Ivanovo School of Arts, he settled in the small town of Kineshma in the Ivanovo region.
It was here that Utkin fully developed an instantly recognizable personal style: he first found acclaim by the cycle of Kineshma landscapes with the recreations of an old Russian city. In 1971 he joined the Union of Artists of the USSR, and in 2009 he was awarded the honorary title “Honored Artist of the Russian Federation”.
His most favorite genre was the landscape. His paintings are both energetic and temperamental, he employed vivid combinations of color and a special stroke. Even the most ordinary objects and phenomena become vivid and lively in his paintings, as he fills them with joy and light. It was in this exuberant manner that the 1991’s ‘Lilacs in Bloom’ was painted.
On it, we see a landscape with many sailing boats in the foreground. The painter most likely depicted a small river during the time of a spring flood. In the background, there are village izbas with colorful platbands. Blooming lilacs help to determine the time of year on the spot, so they also gave the name to the entire painting. At the same time, bright lilac, blue, purple, and green flowers stick not only in lush and thick lilac bushes, but also in water reflections, floating boats, and on shining roofs of houses.
Such virtuoso use of very saturated and contrasting colors brings Utkin closer to the great impressionist painters. Moreover, it is with flowers, and not with picturesque forms, that he created an almost palpable atmosphere of spring. It is also interesting that only the recognizable views of village houses define the Russian province. Without them, the viewer might well think of Venice with its river-like streets: such are the tenderness and the lyricism of the painting.
It was here that Utkin fully developed an instantly recognizable personal style: he first found acclaim by the cycle of Kineshma landscapes with the recreations of an old Russian city. In 1971 he joined the Union of Artists of the USSR, and in 2009 he was awarded the honorary title “Honored Artist of the Russian Federation”.
His most favorite genre was the landscape. His paintings are both energetic and temperamental, he employed vivid combinations of color and a special stroke. Even the most ordinary objects and phenomena become vivid and lively in his paintings, as he fills them with joy and light. It was in this exuberant manner that the 1991’s ‘Lilacs in Bloom’ was painted.
On it, we see a landscape with many sailing boats in the foreground. The painter most likely depicted a small river during the time of a spring flood. In the background, there are village izbas with colorful platbands. Blooming lilacs help to determine the time of year on the spot, so they also gave the name to the entire painting. At the same time, bright lilac, blue, purple, and green flowers stick not only in lush and thick lilac bushes, but also in water reflections, floating boats, and on shining roofs of houses.
Such virtuoso use of very saturated and contrasting colors brings Utkin closer to the great impressionist painters. Moreover, it is with flowers, and not with picturesque forms, that he created an almost palpable atmosphere of spring. It is also interesting that only the recognizable views of village houses define the Russian province. Without them, the viewer might well think of Venice with its river-like streets: such are the tenderness and the lyricism of the painting.
