Pine forest

Ivan Choultsé, a student of Konstantin Krizhitskii, court painter to Tsar Nicholas II, was elected court painter himself just before the Revolution of 1917. This academic artist made his début at the Imperial Art Academy in 1903, then exhibited extensively at the Academy and a number of major galleries in St Petersburg and Moscow. After the Revolution he joined his fellow Russian artists abroad. He travelled around Europe but preferred to work in Switzerland as it reminded him of his native Russia. He eventually settled in Paris and presented his works at a group exhibition (Salon des Artistes Français, 1923-24) and single artist shows in Paris (1922-23), London (1927), New York (1928, 1931) and Chicago (1933).

Best known and beloved amongst [...] collectors as a great master of snowy landscapes gilded by slanted sunbeams, Choultsé executed a series of forest landscapes in which light seems to come from behind the canvas and glow as seen in this early work. The expressive palette of intense reds, oranges and greens was used by Choultsé to depict the magical effects of the rich light of the setting sun.