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Lot Essay
On the way from the station I enjoyed the wonderful views of ‘my’ provinces. There are so many things that I love here: the square, the bazaar with its quaint architecture…carts with muzhiki; churches, monasteries and gardens, gardens and more gardens, full of poplars, birch trees, maple trees, weeping willows…
Boris Kustodiev, 28 June 1921, Staraya Russa
Staraya Russa is a historical resort-town in Novgorod oblast, celebrated for its mineral springs and made famous in the 19th century by illustrious patrons such as N. Dobroliubov (1836-1861), M. Gorkii (1868-1936), Grand Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909) and Dostoevsky (1821-1881), who wrote novels, including The Brothers Karamazov there.
Kustodiev travelled to Staraya Russa in 1921, in order to recuperate from an operation that had left him confined to a wheelchair. Energised and inspired by the beauty of the provinces, he set to work, creating a series of drawings which formed the basis of his album Sixteen lithographs [Shestnagtsat’ avtolitograpii] (Petersburg, 1921) depicting scenes from provincial life. According to Vsevolod Voinov (1880-1945), Kustodiev’s biographer, the publication caused a sensation – as only 300 exemplars were produced, when demand increased the price of the album quickly sky-rocketed from 100,000 roubles to 500,000 roubles.
The present work is one of nine Kustodiev oils depicting Staraya Russa that M. Etkind lists in his 1982 publication. It has been suggested that this painting was inspired by the Church of Dimitrii Solunskii that was built in the period 1860-1870 and demolished in the 1950s.
Boris Kustodiev, 28 June 1921, Staraya Russa
Staraya Russa is a historical resort-town in Novgorod oblast, celebrated for its mineral springs and made famous in the 19th century by illustrious patrons such as N. Dobroliubov (1836-1861), M. Gorkii (1868-1936), Grand Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909) and Dostoevsky (1821-1881), who wrote novels, including The Brothers Karamazov there.
Kustodiev travelled to Staraya Russa in 1921, in order to recuperate from an operation that had left him confined to a wheelchair. Energised and inspired by the beauty of the provinces, he set to work, creating a series of drawings which formed the basis of his album Sixteen lithographs [Shestnagtsat’ avtolitograpii] (Petersburg, 1921) depicting scenes from provincial life. According to Vsevolod Voinov (1880-1945), Kustodiev’s biographer, the publication caused a sensation – as only 300 exemplars were produced, when demand increased the price of the album quickly sky-rocketed from 100,000 roubles to 500,000 roubles.
The present work is one of nine Kustodiev oils depicting Staraya Russa that M. Etkind lists in his 1982 publication. It has been suggested that this painting was inspired by the Church of Dimitrii Solunskii that was built in the period 1860-1870 and demolished in the 1950s.