Petrov-Vodkin: 192 Colour Plates

By Maria Peitcheva

Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin, (1878 – 1939) was an important Russian and Soviet painter and writer.

Petrov-Vodkin extensively used an aesthetic of Orthodox icon together with brighter colors and unusual compositions. His works were often deemed irreligious and erotic. From 1924 to 1926 Petrov-Vodkin lived in France with his family. During his earlier years, Petrov-Vodkin developed his "spherical perspective": a unique twist that distorted the drawing as to represent the viewer high enough to actually notice the spherical curve of the globe. He used it extensively through his works like Death of a Commissar and In the Line of Fire, which make the observer seem more distant, but actually close. It is argued that this twist has been built upon Byzantine perspective - an inverted perspective used in iconography. Petrov-Vodkin used darker tones with time, but his paintings became more detailed. He started painting still life and portraits, stepping further away from his previous themes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maria Peitcheva
• Release date: Oct 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9788822859174

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Drawings

Foreword

Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin, (1878 – 1939) was an important Russian and Soviet painter and writer. He was born in Khvalynsk (Saratov Oblast) into the family of a local shoemaker. His first exposure to art was in his early childhood, when he took some lessons from a couple of icon painters and a signmaker. Still, Petrov-Vodkin didn't quite see himself in art at that time; after graduating from middle school, he took a summer job at a small shipyard with plans to get into Railroad college in Samara. After failing his exam, he turned to Art Classes of Fedor Burov. In April 1895, Burov died and for some time Petrov-Vodkin took different painting jobs in the vicinity of Saratov. By chance, his mother's employer invited a well-known architect, R. Meltzer. Petrov-Vodkin was introduced to the guest and impressed him enough to get an invitation to study art at Saint Petersburg. The education was financed by a charitable subscription among local merchants. He also met at this time Borisov-Musatov, an important painter resident in Saratov, who encouraged Petrov-Vodkin to continue his studies.

Petrov-Vodkin stayed in Saint Petersburg from 1895 to 1897 studying at the Baron Stieglits School, before moving to the Moscow School of Painting,