Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin

"Saint Germain" Paris Cityscape by Konstantin Korovine

1931

Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Konstantin was born in Moscow to a merchant family officially registered as peasants of Vladimir gubernia. In 1875 Korovin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he learned from Vasily Perov and Alexei Savrasov. During his scholar years Korovin became friends with his fellow students Valentin Serov and Isaac Levitan; Konstantin kept these friendships through the whole of his life. In 1881-1882, Korovin spent a year at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, but returned disappointed to the Moscow School of Painting, sculpturing and architecture. He studied at the school under the new teacher Vasily Polenov until 1886. In 1885, Korovin traveled to Paris and Spain. "Paris was a shock for me … Impressionists… in them I found everything for what I was scolded back at home, in Moscow", he later wrote. In the 1890s, Korovin became a member of the Mir iskusstva art group. Korovin's subsequent works were strongly influenced by his travel to the North. In 1888 he was captivated by the stern northern landscapes, as seen in The Coast of Norway and The Northern Sea. In 1900, Korovin designed the Central Asia section of the Russian Empire pavilion on the Paris World Fair; and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government. In the beginning of the 20th century Korovin focused his attention on the theatre. He moved from Mamontov's opera to Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. Korovin designed sets for Constantin Stanislavski's dramatic productions, as well as Mariinsky's operas and ballets. He did the stage design for such Mariinsky's productions of Faust (1899), The Little Humpbacked Horse (1901) and Sadko (1906) that became famous for their expressiveness. In 1905, Korovin became an Academician of Painting, and in 1909-1913, he was a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. One of the artist's favourite themes was Paris. He painted A Paris Cafe (1890s), Cafe de la Paix (1905), La Place de la Bastille (1906), Paris at Night, Le Boulevard Italien (1908), Night Carnival (1901), Paris in the Evening (1907) and others. In 1923 Korovin moved to Paris by the advice of the Commissar of Enlightenment, Anatoliy Vasilievich Lunacharsky, to cure his heart condition and help Korovin's handicapped son. There was supposed to be a large exhibition of Korovin's works but the works were stolen and Korovin was left penniless. For years he produced the numerous Russian winters and Paris boulevards just to make ends meet. In the last years of his life he produced stage designs for many of the major theatres of Europe, America, Asia and Australia, the most famous of which is his scenery for a production by the Turin Opera House of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel. Korovin died in Paris on September 11, 1939.