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拍品专文
Born in St. Petersburg, Konstantin Andreevich Somov (1869-1939) was the son of Andrei Somov, an art historian and curator at the Hermitage. After receiving a general eductaion at K. I. Mai's private Grammar School, Somov attended the Academy of Arts for three years where he was taught by Il'ia Repin. In February 1897, Somov left for Paris but returned and settled in St. Petersburg in 1899.
Amongst his circle of friends Somov included Aleksandr Benois, Walter Nuvel, Dmitri Filosofov and Sergei Diaghilev - the founders of Mir iskusstva (World of Art); a hetergeneous organisation which embraced Art Nouveau and Symbolism. Somov, a frequent contributor to their periodical, was particularly influenced by the 'cult of beauty' and the Commedia dell'arte. His charming Rococco harlequin scenes, depicting ladies in rose-coloured silks and silvery crinolines stealing kisses from lovers, create a 'Somovian' world characterised by a nostalgia for the past.
Somov's work juxtaposes the anxiety and decadence associated with the fin-de-siècle, an age which Sergei Diaghilev assessed with great precision: 'We live in a terrible time of change; we are condemned to die in order that the new culture, which shall take from us what remains of our weary wisdom, should live, history says so, and aesthetics confirms it. We are witnessing the greatest historical moment of stock-taking and ending.' In the poetry of Aleksandr Blok, whose work Somov illustrated, we find a possible solution to the situation, '...in the embraces of a fool and farce the old world will wax beautiful and grow young, and its eyes will become clear, fathomless.'.
The composition of the present painting, dated 1923, can be compared to a gouache painted in 1910 and entitled 'Pierrot and a Lady' (see Fig. 1). The gouache, formerly in the collection of M. V. Braikevich, is now in the Odessa Art Museum. The present oil painting is enlivened by the figure of Harlequin pursuing his lover in the background.
Amongst his circle of friends Somov included Aleksandr Benois, Walter Nuvel, Dmitri Filosofov and Sergei Diaghilev - the founders of Mir iskusstva (World of Art); a hetergeneous organisation which embraced Art Nouveau and Symbolism. Somov, a frequent contributor to their periodical, was particularly influenced by the 'cult of beauty' and the Commedia dell'arte. His charming Rococco harlequin scenes, depicting ladies in rose-coloured silks and silvery crinolines stealing kisses from lovers, create a 'Somovian' world characterised by a nostalgia for the past.
Somov's work juxtaposes the anxiety and decadence associated with the fin-de-siècle, an age which Sergei Diaghilev assessed with great precision: 'We live in a terrible time of change; we are condemned to die in order that the new culture, which shall take from us what remains of our weary wisdom, should live, history says so, and aesthetics confirms it. We are witnessing the greatest historical moment of stock-taking and ending.' In the poetry of Aleksandr Blok, whose work Somov illustrated, we find a possible solution to the situation, '...in the embraces of a fool and farce the old world will wax beautiful and grow young, and its eyes will become clear, fathomless.'.
The composition of the present painting, dated 1923, can be compared to a gouache painted in 1910 and entitled 'Pierrot and a Lady' (see Fig. 1). The gouache, formerly in the collection of M. V. Braikevich, is now in the Odessa Art Museum. The present oil painting is enlivened by the figure of Harlequin pursuing his lover in the background.