Back in early May I had shared a post on the early 20th century Russian artist, Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva. Again, I've been doing some reading on 20th century Russian art history and have stumbled upon a painter, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (self portrait, left), whose images really resonate for me. His early works tended to focus on urban scenes, particularly in and around St. Petersburg. His urban paintings usually depicted the bleakness and ugliness of urban life, sometimes offered in contrast to the beauty of surrounding neo-classical architecture. In addition, Dobuzhinsky provided illustrations for many books and magazines (including images for an edition of Dostoyevsky's White Nights). In 1924 he immigrated to Lithuania, and in 1939 to the U.S., where he worked primarily as a stage designer (with which he had experience during his time in Russia and Lithuania). I've included works below which illustrate the breadth of his work.
Courtyard in St. Petersburg. 1920. Blacklead on paper.
Illustration for Dostoyevsky's White Nights.
Man with Spectacles. Portrait of the Art Critic and Poet Constantin Sunnerberg. 1905-06. Charcoal and watercolor on paper.
Omnibus in Vilno. 1907. Pastel on paper.
Vitebsk. 1919. Watercolor, ink on paper.
1 comment:
Beautiful artwork! :)
Post a Comment