MASTERKOVA Lidia Alekseevna

The plane of a painting is a restricted space, where I build my own world.
L. Masterkova

March 8, 1927 (according to another sources — 1924, 1929, 1931, 1937; Moscow) — May 12, 2008 (Saint-Laurent-sur-Othain, France)

Painter

Lidia Masterkova took lessons of dramatic art by K. S. Stanislavsky; she was interested in theatre, music and poetry. Masterkova studied at Moscow secondary art school (1943–1946); the first teacher of the young artist was Mikhail Perutsky. Since 1946 she studied at Moscow Art Institute in the Memory of the Year 1905.

Masterkova was a member of the group Lianozovo Circle. In 1950s Masterkova was one of the first artists who painted in abstract style. She held true for this manner of painting till the end of her life.

“Her abstract compositions now blaze, now sparkle or now twinkle by magical colours. Sometimes cheerful bright colours and strange contours at her paintings remind me organ music of Bach, but sometimes greenish grey intermixed planes are associated with biologic forms and the composition ‘La création du monde’ by Milhaud. Drawings by Masterkova tell about various things — organization of colours, and character of colour accents, and at the same time they express the author’s originality.” (L. Kropivnitsky. 1965).

Masterkova liked to work on cycles and series. The most famous and significant series are Planets (1976), Meteorites (1981–1982), Triptyches and a lot of Compositions, which were often dedicated to someone or to concrete person.

The artist often resorted to the form of a circle in her compositions. “Everything is in circle. You cannot leave a circle.  Everything comes full circle. And nothing can exist without circle.” (From the interview with L. Masterkova, 24.01.2006).

Masterkova’s compositions executed on paper could be described as cosmic, mysterious and full of mystical power. Sometimes such pictures seem to be photos of unknown planets in space. Drawings in Indian ink create an impression of vibrating plane.

Lidia Masterkova early began to participate in art exhibitions. The first personal exhibition of the artist was held in 1961 in the house of art historian I. Tsyrlin. Masterkova showed his works at sensational Moscow exhibitions:

1967 — the exhibition of works by 12 Moscow artists in club Druzhba (“Friendship”) in Moscow. This exhibition was closed in two hours after the vernisage, and the works by Masterkova were taken down before the opening of the exhibition;

1974 — the 1st autumn exhibition of paintings in the open air — so called the Bulldozer Exhibition (Moscow);

1974 — the 2nd autumn exhibition of paintings in the open air, exhibition in the park Izmaylovo (Moscow);

1974 — the exhibition Progressive Strömungen in Moskau 1957–1970 (Museum Bochum, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany);

1975 — the Exhibition of paintings of Moscow Artists at the pavilion Apiculture (VDNKh, Moscow).

In 1975 Masterkova immigrated to France. She lived in picturesque village Saint-Laurent-sur-Othain at a distance of 300 kilometres from Paris; she had a lot of domestic animals there. “I have a restful life in France, I’m quiet as a mouse here. I simply work and I have no time to talk to.” (From the interview with L. Masterkova, 24.01.2006). At the last years of her life, Masterkova created collage graphical series.

After emigration to the West, Masterkova worked a lot, and showed her works at the exhibitions in France, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. In 1976 the personal exhibition of the artist was held in the gallery of Dina Vierny in Paris.

Works by Lidia Masterkova are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the Museum of Modern Art in the USA, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in the USA, and in the private collections of Dina Vierny in France and Norton Dodge in the USA.