Still Life. 1912 Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (1861-1939)

Description of the painting "Still Life" by Konstantin Korovin

Konstantin Korovin left behind many works - he painted landscapes, portraits, decorative panels, and was also involved in the artistic design of theatrical productions, creating sets for various plays. There are especially many different still lifes with flowers in his heritage.

The still life stands on a wide windowsill in a city apartment, draped in white cloth. On the left is a white vase with a lush bouquet of flowers - against a background of purple violets stand out graceful rose buds of dark red hue. To the right is a broad faience dish on a high stand full of blue-black and yellowish bunches of ripe grapes.

In the foreground, the viewer sees a metal tray with a gilded teapot, a spoon and two ripe peaches. Behind all of these objects is a picnic basket or a small chest. The background for the still life is a window with an evening cityscape of Paris. On the background of dark bluish twilight one can see the lit up windows in the house opposite and the dim lights of yellow street lamps.

The painting is painted with broad, lush strokes - like all Impressionist works, it’s better to look at it from a distance. Up close it looks a little harsh. At the same time the texture of objects is wonderfully conveyed - the bright reflections of street lights on the tray and on the side of the teapot turned to the viewer, the ripeness and transparency of light grapes, the roundness of peaches.

Not yet aware of such a trend as Impressionism, Korovin painted in this style. The artist believed that the main thing in a picture is the sound in harmony with some heartfelt human feeling, rather than the beauty of the image, while creating amazingly beautiful landscapes and still lifes in the technique of decorative impressionism.