Artist of the week: Alexander Bogomazov
ARTinvestment.RU   28 января 2020

Artist-авангардист, theorist, and teacher. Ukrainian "Picasso", held during its short life, a long career. His work is represented in the auction AI this week

Alexander Konstantinovich Bogomazov (1880-1930). Auctions are not often indulge their clients by that name. If in the 1960-х the years at flea markets, Ukraine could buy his drawings for "penny", today the value of his works at auction is huge.

On the global art-рынке was represented by his early work. For example, in 2008, at Sotheby's in new-Йорке for $481 000 was sold to a canvas "On the river", pointillistically resolved in a manner characteristic of the artist 1906-1909 years.

Exhibited in a solo exhibition in Toulouse in 1991, "Portrait of the artist's wife" (early 1910-х) at London's Sotheby's auction in 2004, had sold 8 times more expensive than the estimate for $313 838.

high soared the price of "Abstract landscape", sold in 2005 at Sotheby's for $1 273 501. Today, the work is in a private collection (Kiev).

Appear on the market and graphic works of the artist.

Where did the interest in his work? Bogomazov — artist whose life was full of tragedy: he has experienced and the recognition, and the joy of teaching, but died almost in poverty in the midst of persecution "formal" art. Even at the Kiev art school, he met who studied there with Alexandra Exter. Thanks to Exter, Bogomazov discovered foreign currents in painting, infinite isms, and embraced them, especially the work of Italian futurists, had tried various techniques — from impressionism to abstraction, but he was able to rethink and develop its own language, formalized in his treatise "Painting and elements".

Experts identify the work of Alexander Bogomazov several stages, recognizing the most outstanding periods of Cubo-futurism (1913-1917) and spectralism, microtonal (1920-1930).

Bogomazov was engaged not only in practice painting, he actively developed the theoretical basis of art. His creative search has been started with experiment with impressionist and postimpressionist techniques especially where the point is the driving force. In 1914 Bogomazov ends the treatise "Painting and elements" (two years before Kandinsky, as some researchers like to point out), which identifies a primary element of painting — point on the picture plane. "the Dynamics (the principle of futurism) is the development from point to line, movement of which results in the area. This, according to Bogomazova, and brings to life the phenomenon of forms, existing only in "the moment of movement of the primary element"", — writes D. E. Gorbachev (A. Bogomazov Paintings and elements : From the treatise / by A. Bogomazov; Publ. D. Gorbachev and M. Kolesnikova / Our Heritage. Historical-культурный magazine. 1991. No. 2 (20). P. 144).

by the Way, in 2015, Christie's sold one of the most striking work of the period of Cubo-futurism — vivid and memorable "Portrait of Wanda's Monastery, the artist's wife". D. E. Gorbachev so analyses of this work: "He turns face in the intersection of the "lines": verticals and horizontals, ovals, sharp corners. These techniques are "plastic deformation" directly correlates with the theory presented by the artist in his treatise "Painting and elements"" (D. Gorbachev. Works by Vasily Yermilov and Alexander Bogomazov are in new-Йорке // Pinacoteca. M., 2006, № 23-24. P.171).

in General, for Bogomazov paintings typical of the incredible liveliness of what is happening onthe fabric, bright rich colors and lack of perspective. The artist painted urban scenes (trains, streets, bazaars, etc.), created a huge number of self-portraits and portraits of his family, turned to still life.

In 1920-х years of easel painting for Bogomazov begins to fade into the background: he is immersed in teaching, in public life. In 1922 Bogomazov became Professor of easel painting of Kyiv art Institute, where she worked with him, V. Palmov, V. Tatlin, V. Golubyatnikov, M. Boychuk, L. Kramarenko. In 1928-1930 in the same Institute taught Malevich.

At this time, theoretical research has led the artist to translate the so-called "stretch colors," the polychrome conventions and color relationships. It is evident in his latest works — Studio still lifes. This is presented at the auction AI Auction "Staged the still life" (or "Experimental still life") 1927-1928. The work was purchased from the artist's widow in 1960-е years, at a time when it was trodden pilgrim trails many interested parties, among them was Igor Dychenko. Still life written on the back of the layout the schedule of final exams of students of class III Artistic-Ремесленной Training Workshop of Printing in Kiev@the semicolon it is possible that this sheet was left from the artist since the days of his teaching in the workshops (1918-1919).

Using complementary colors (blue and yellow), the artist builds the composition, the staged still life, experimental nature of which is revealed through color interaction. In one of the private collections of a similar still life was presented in a different color palette, color scheme included three primary colors (blue, yellow, red) and one secondary (green). The interplay of colors and their emotional component are the main aspects of the study.

In the same vein, developed his painting "the Rooks", where four basic colors distributed according to the symbols: earth — red-розовая, face — yellow-оранжевые, sky — intense-синее.

the Last years of the artist's life were marred by severe illness and the growing pressure against those whose vision of art differed from the official... the Name Bogomazov was for years to erase from the history of Soviet and Ukrainian art, and is now re-opened for us.

Alexei Smirnov, specifically for AI