Bidspirit auction | Somov K.A.

Somov K.A. - Portrait of Emil Nolde.. Year:  1928 Technique:  Pastel on paper. Size:  27.6x19.2. Descripton:  Signed and dated lower left. Somov Konstantin Alekseevich (1869, St. Petersburg - 1939, Paris). One of the outstanding masters of Russian Art Nouveau, founders of the World of Art association. He studied at the Academy of Arts in the workshop of I.E. Repin, then in Paris at the F. Colarossi Academy. The son of the curator of the Hermitage art gallery, Somov collected ancient engravings, drawings, porcelain and constantly turned to Western European artistic heritage. He is famous for his works in the spirit of “gallant” scenes of the Rococo era (walks, festivals, harlequinades), made in gouache, pencil, and watercolor. He illustrated and designed magazines and books (“The Book of the Marquise, ” 1908, A. Prevost’s novels “Manon Lescaut, ” 1926, and Long’s “Daphnis and Chloe, ” 1930). He also painted portraits, orders for which came from the highest nobility. The artist’s first personal exhibition took place in 1903. He was exhibited at the World of Art exhibitions (1899), and the Secession. He was a member of the Union of Russian Artists (1903-1910). Since 1912 he has been an academician, since 1918 he has been a professor at the Academy of Arts. In 1923 he left for New York, and since 1925 he lived in Paris. The artist’s works are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum.