Alexander V. Grigoriev, Still Life



       In my interest to provide a wide variety of artists and works, I searched long and far for this week's entry. The artist is Alexander V. Grigoriev (1891-1961), a Russian with a very interesting history. Although he made a huge impact on Russian art he is barely mentioned in a large book I own on Russian art. In the 1920's Grigoriev was an important member of the Socialist Realism Movement. He organized and lead several schools and art groups instructing and ministering to artists across the Soviet Union. In 1937 he was arrested for anti Soviet activities and spent the next nine years in a labor camp. From then on he was labeled an enemy of the people and was restricted from much travel, as he could not even go to Moscow to visit family. Finally in the mid 1950's his honor was reinstated in the Communist party and his achievements acknowledged. 
     The title of this painting is simply, Still Life.  Although I am attracted to this image, I find it a little strange.  It is seems a bit of an academic exercise in construction. All things found in a dining or kitchen space carefully arranged for the composition. Notice how many of the objects point. Point left or right for balance. Even the tops of the onions point in opposite directions, and the tilt of the oil lamp shade on the upper left is carefully positioned to the left, while the one on the dispenser tilts the opposite.  
     The colors are beautiful.  The composition is complementary: blue and yellow, with the heavy yellow/gold coffee dispenser positioned direct middle. The light source seems to be from our left, casting nice shadows which add the contrast of light to dark values.  
    I found no information about the size or present location of this painting, and only assume it is still in Russia. 
Make Art a part of your life, it's a beautiful thing to do.

Comments

  1. Char HarguthNovember 28, 2020 at 10:31 AM

    This is amazing; over 20 objects. I wonder how long it took him to arrange them, and have different objects pointing in different directions. I imagine some readjusting along the way. Even though the coffee dispenser is the center of attention, he gives detailed attention to every item along with reflections. It is such a skillful painting and seems held together by the light blue cloth on the bottom and the similar colored large lid at the top. I tried to imagine how it would look if everything pointed in the same direction - probably very off balance. A beautiful still life to study!!!


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  2. JudithMarie5December 1, 2020 at 8:59 AM

    Great facility, technically admirable, too staid for my tastes. I wonder how Sargent would have painted a still life with this many objects. Or even would he? I do, however, like the background and the tablecloth...very abstract.

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