A detailed study of each part of the canvas is necessary to create large-scale, multi-figured images. After working on the overall composition of the picture, the artist then begins the preparatory phase. The main assistant in this work is a study, which makes it possible to analyse the potential problems of the central piece. Typically, studies are made of a model. Thus, the main details of the future image, such as colour and light, shape, perspective, and composition can be worked through.
The work ‘Woman in a plush jacket’ is preparatory material for the painting ‘Elections in the Moscow Region’. Most of the sketches for Sysoev’s paintings are about the work and life of the collective farm peasantry in the village of Maly Gorodok near the I.E. Repin Academic Dacha Art Centre in the Tver Region. Almost all the artist’s life is connected with this place. Upon completion of a successful education, he was awarded a creative trip to the Academic Dacha, where he later acquired a house. The Academic Dacha or The Academy had developed into a village of artists.
All of Sysoev’s works were created with local material. The prototypes for the characters in the paintings were the villagers from Gorodok and the residents of nearby settlements. As an artist, Sysoev was always concerned with popular events, mass scenes. In his sketches for them, he sought to catch the plot, movement, psychology, everything that would later help to create large, thematic canvases.
The artist always painted many preparatory studies when working on paintings. He would often return to one figure several times in search of what he needed. Many of the sketches are so masterfully executed that they are artistically significant in their own right.
It is possible that the sketch “Woman in a plush jacket” depicts a resident of the village of Gorodok. We can trace how carefully the artist worked on the light and shadow, the perspective of the model, paying special attention to the foreground — the facial expression of the woman, while the background is generalized, with large strokes.
Despite the fact that many works by Nikolai Sysoev were painted more than half a century ago, they remain very modern and timely. The modern school of painting gravitates towards study, philosophical abstraction, the search for individual solutions. Subject and thematic works tend to fall by the wayside. Against this background, Sysoev’s works gain new resonance.
The work ‘Woman in a plush jacket’ is preparatory material for the painting ‘Elections in the Moscow Region’. Most of the sketches for Sysoev’s paintings are about the work and life of the collective farm peasantry in the village of Maly Gorodok near the I.E. Repin Academic Dacha Art Centre in the Tver Region. Almost all the artist’s life is connected with this place. Upon completion of a successful education, he was awarded a creative trip to the Academic Dacha, where he later acquired a house. The Academic Dacha or The Academy had developed into a village of artists.
All of Sysoev’s works were created with local material. The prototypes for the characters in the paintings were the villagers from Gorodok and the residents of nearby settlements. As an artist, Sysoev was always concerned with popular events, mass scenes. In his sketches for them, he sought to catch the plot, movement, psychology, everything that would later help to create large, thematic canvases.
The artist always painted many preparatory studies when working on paintings. He would often return to one figure several times in search of what he needed. Many of the sketches are so masterfully executed that they are artistically significant in their own right.
It is possible that the sketch “Woman in a plush jacket” depicts a resident of the village of Gorodok. We can trace how carefully the artist worked on the light and shadow, the perspective of the model, paying special attention to the foreground — the facial expression of the woman, while the background is generalized, with large strokes.
Despite the fact that many works by Nikolai Sysoev were painted more than half a century ago, they remain very modern and timely. The modern school of painting gravitates towards study, philosophical abstraction, the search for individual solutions. Subject and thematic works tend to fall by the wayside. Against this background, Sysoev’s works gain new resonance.
