Roses. 1912 Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (1861-1939)

Description of the painting "Roses" by Konstantin Korovin

"Roses," painted with the brush of Soviet artist Konstantin Korovin, appeared before the general public in 1912. The painting is currently on display in the halls of the Yaroslavl Art Museum.

The period of the artist’s creativity marked by the beginning of the twentieth century, almost entirely devoted to writing still lifes on floral subjects. The next "Roses" were not an exception. This motif is often found in his work, especially the author liked the majestic, graceful roses - recognized queens of all flowers. The flowers before us immediately fascinate us with their non-trivial, fresh appearance.

Korovin uses only cool shades. The delicate rose petals are painted in burgundy, purple, salmon, lavender and golden beige. Fine petals are rendered in emerald and gray-green. The surroundings of the flowers are predominantly amethyst gray and azure. Together, all these subtle shades of colors merge into a sad, chilling harmony. It seems as if a real coldness is emanating from the painting. If you touch it mentally, you can feel the smooth surface of ice on your fingers.

There is not a single warm speck in the canvas. Even the small, playful shades of beige, bloody burgundy, and yellow-green that happen to sneak onto the canvas don’t look the least bit warm when combined with the overwhelmingly cold colors. These roses are beautiful on their own; they don’t need any kind of complement or active subject matter. They are a work of art themselves, created by nature and harvested by man.

At first glance it may seem that the canvas is not finished. The lines are somewhat indistinct and the composition itself is not fixed on any object. All the flowers form a whole, we do not look at each of them separately. This is the idea of the author of the painting. This style of drawing reveals to us real emotion and admiration for the perfect, perfect beauty.