^
Born on 16 June 1881: Natal'ya
Sergeyevna Goncharova, Russian French Cubist
painter, stage designer, printmaker, and illustrator, who died on 17 October
1962.
— She founded the avant~garde Rayonist movement (1910) with Mikhail
Fyodorovich Larionov [03 Jun 1881 – 10 May 1964], whom she married
in 1955. Both Larionov and Goncharova exhibited in the first Jack of Diamonds
exhibition of avant-garde Russian art in Moscow (1910). In 1914 they went
to Paris, where both achieved renown as designers for Sergey Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes. During the 1920s they played a significant role within the
École de Paris and continued to live and work in France until their
deaths.
— Innovative painter, sculptor, and stage designer who was important
as a founder, with Mikhail Larionov (her life-long collaborator-mate and
late-life husband), of Rayonism (1910) and as a designer for the Ballets
Russes. The daughter of an aristocratic family (great grand-daughter of
Alexander Pushkin), Goncharova studied painting and sculpture at the Academy
of Fine Arts in Moscow. Pupil of Paul Trubetskoy. After an early preoccupation
with sculpture (which she began to exhibit in 1900) she began to paint seriously
(1904), experimenting with the Cubist and Futurist styles. Goncharova and
Larionov conceived of Rayonism as a synthesis of these movements. Rayonism
sought to portray the spatial qualities of reflected light in two dimensions.
In 1912 Goncharova took part in Roger Fry's Postimpressionist exhibition
(London) and in the second exhibition of Der Blaue Reiter (Munich). Goncharova
earned a lofty reputation in Moscow for her scenery and costume designs
for the Kamerny Theatre. After she and Larionov moved to Paris in 1914 she
became a designer for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Her vibrant, Byzantine-inspired
designs for the ballet "Coq d'Or" are especially notable.
— Natalia Goncharova was born in Nagayevo village, near Tula, Russia.
In 1892, she moved to Moscow to attend school. She studied at the Moscow
Art School, first in the sculpture department under Pavel Trubetskoy (from
1898) and then in the painting department under Konstantin Korovin (1900-1909).
In 1900, she met Mikhail Larionov, who encouraged her to paint and became
her lifelong mate (they married in 1955). The following year, she enrolled
at the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture to study
sculpture. Goncharova participated in an exhibition of Russian artists organized
by Sergei Diaghilev at the 1906 Salon d’Automne in Paris. Her early work
shows the influence of Impressionism,
Fauvism,
and Russian folk sculpture.
Goncharova participated in numerous important
exhibitions of new art in Moscow, including Jack of Diamonds (1910), The
Donkey’s Tail (1912), and The Target (1913). Her early works were painted
in Primitivist and Cubist
styles. About 1912 Goncharova and Larionov fashioned a fusion of Cubo-Futurism
and Orphism
known as Rayism or Rayonism. Goncharova was represented at the second Blaue
Reiter exhibition at Galerie Hans Goltz, Munich, in 1912 and the Erste deutsche
Herbstsalon at the Der Sturm gallery in Berlin in 1913. About this time,
Goncharova and Larionov began their collaboration with Diaghilev and his
Ballets Russes, which lasted until the impresario’s death in 1929. In 1917,
they settled permanently in Paris, and the following year their work appeared
in the exhibition L’Art décoratif théâtral moderne at the Galerie Sauvage,
Paris.
Goncharova showed extensively during the
1920s and 1930s, often with Larionov, in Europe, the United States, and
Japan. Although she never abandoned painting, much of her creative energy
was directed toward stage decoration and book illustration. She designed
costumes, settings, and drop curtains for international presentations of
modern and classical ballets until she was in her 70s. In 1938, Goncharova
became a French citizen and in 1955 she married Larionov. The following
year she was given a retrospective at the Galerie de l’Institut in Paris.
Goncharova died in Paris.
— Goncharova was born in Negaevo, and died in Paris. A descendant
of the great poet Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin's wife, she was the daughter
of Sergei Goncharov, an architect, and Ekaterina Il'ichna Beliaeva, but
grew up in her grandmother's house in the Tula Province. She attended the
Fourth Gymnasium for Girls in Moscow and in 1898 entered the Moscow School
of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture as a sculpture student. At the school
Goncharova met Mikhail Larionov who became her lifelong companion and encouraged
her to leave sculpture for painting. Goncharova was attracted briefly to
Impressionism and Symbolism, but her participation in the "Golden Fleece"
exhibition introduced her to the styles of Gauguin [07
Jun 1848 – 08 May 1903], Matisse [31 Dec 1869 – 03 Nov 1954], Cézanne
[19 January 1839 – 22 Oct 1906] and Toulouse-Lautrec [24 Nov 1864 – 09 Sep
1901] whose art would influence her development. In a series depicting the
favorite theme of the Russian peasants working the land, this influence
is revealed in both color and the approach to form. In 1910 Goncharova became
one of the founding members of the "Jack of Diamond" group but later went
her separate way to establish the "Donkey's Tail" group with Larionov. In
1912 the group held their first exhibition with more than 50 works from
Goncharova, executed in a number of different styles. Goncharova was a connoisseur
of lubki, Russian popular prints, and the titles of her works clearly betray
this influence. Her use of conventions of icon
painting is particularly evident in The
Evangelists.
In 1913 she entered her most productive period,
painting dozens of canvases. In her Neo-primitive works she continued to
explore the styles of Eastern and traditional art forms, but also experimented
with Cubo-futurism
(see The
Cyclist, 1913), and adopted Larionov's new style of Rayonism.
Her famous Cats (1912) and Green
and Yellow Forest (1912) show how confidently she was able to work
in the Rayonist style, developing her own artistic idiom independently of
Larionov. In August 1913, Goncharova attracted international attention exhibiting
over 700 paintings in an one-woman show . During this period she was, like
Larionov, associated with the literary avant-garde. In 1914 Goncharova visited
Paris to make designs for Diaghilev's production of Le coq d'or.
Her designs, based on Eastern and Russian folk art, took Paris by storm.
She also held a joint exhibition with Larionov at the Galerie Paul Guillaume.
She returned to Moscow after the beginning of the war.
At the request of Diaghilev, Larionov and
Goncharova left Russia for Switzerland in June 1915. In 1916 they accompanied
Diaghilev to Spain and Italy. Spain left an everlasting impression on Goncharova.
She was especially moved by the bearing of Spanish women in their mantillas.
From that moment on, Espagnoles became her favorite subject. In 1919 Larionov
and Goncharova settled permanently in Paris; they were granted citizenship
in 1938. During the Paris period, Goncharova became famous for her theatrical
designs. In the 1920s she developed her own idiom for her series Espagnoles
and for many paintings with bathers. Following Diaghilev's death in 1929,
Goncharova's creative powers declined only to be briefly revitalized by
the public rediscovery of Rayonism in 1948. After Larionov's stroke in 1950,
Goncharova's health also started to decline, and, although the couple married
in 1955, their last years were spent in poverty.
— LINKS
— Stage
set design for act 1 of the opera-ballet Le coq d'or (1914,
45x70cm; recommended half size 312kb; or see it full
size 1051kb)
— Stage
Design for Act I of the ballet Chota Roustaveli (1946, 54x72cm;
recommended half size 405kb; or see it full
size 1242kb)
— Chota
Roustaveli: Project for the curtain (54x74cm; recommended half size
405kb; or see it full
size 1242kb)
— Costume
for a Peasant Girl in the ballet Foire de Sorotchinsk (1940,
46x21cm; half size 60kb; or see it full
size 239kb)
— l'Oiseau
de Feu: Costume for the first Prince (47x31cm; 1/3 size 60kb; or
see it 2/3
size 239kb)
— L'Oiseau
de Feu: Costume for the 12 Simple Princesses (45x25cm;
2/3 size)
— Costume
for a Man Dancer in Ballet de Trèfle (1950,
31x20cm; full size)
— Baignade
(1911, 115x94cm) — Collecting
Fruit
— The
Virgin, Costume design for the ballet La Liturgie (1915)
— Costume
design for Saint John the Divine for the ballet La Liturgie
(624x395pix)
— The
Archangel Michael
— The Evangelists: Panel 1
_ Panel 2
_ Panel 3
_ Panel 4
(1910, each panel 204x58cm) _ Natalia Goncharova was one of the first Russian
artists to embrace Neo-primitivism
— a graphic style reminiscent of traditional folk art. She explored
it with a unique energy and skill, and was influential in making icon painting
a source of inspiration for 20th-century Russian artists. In addition, Goncharova's
works painted in this style are especially important as examples of a "synthesis"
of European style and Russian national tradition. The Evangelists are among
Goncharova's first mature works devoted to a religious subject. The canvasses
are remarkable for their skillful reconciliation of old and new influences
in Russian art. Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of these four
paintings is their effective use of color, line, and composition to create
a strong rhythmic whole. Goncharova manipulates these elements with such
understanding and perception that when one looks at the four authors of
the Gospels there are no distractions and no weak points -- only strength
and security in a modern interpretation of tradition and native style. Both
line and color become here "expressive entities in their own right" and
convey the sense of calm spirituality and wisdom treasured by icon painters
(97). What the Neo-primitivists of Goncharova's time might have treasured
most however, was an almost childish "directness and simplicity" characteristic
of folk art (97), which they tried to imitate in their works. Today, the
paintings of the Evangelists may be admired for many reasons, and regardless
of the basis for the viewer's appreciation, they definitely are an intriguing
part of the Russian avant-garde movement
— Cats
(rayist perception in rose, black, and yellow) (1913, 85x84cm) _ Goncharova
and Larionov experimented with contemporary French stylistic trends before
developing a Neo-primitive vocabulary inspired by indigenous Russian folk
art. In late 1912 the two artists fashioned a fusion of Cubo-Futurism and
Orphism [more] known as Rayism. Cats, painted shortly thereafter, exemplifies
the new style.
Using intersecting vectors of color to depict
refracted light rays, Rayist works recreate the surface play of light on
objects. This perceptual approach to painting was based on scientific discoveries
concerning the nature of vision, advances that had also influenced Neo-Impressionist
color theories, the Cubist analysis of form, and the Futurist emphasis on
dynamic lines. The nationalistic strain apparent in Italian Futurist manifestos
also pervades Rayist tracts, in which the Russian theory is posited as a
unique synthetic achievement of the East. In the preface to the catalogue
of her 1913 Moscow retrospective exhibition, Goncharova wrote: “For me the
East means the creation of new forms, an extending and deepening of the
problems of color. This will help me to express contemporaneity—its living
beauty—better and more vividly.”
Cats, which appears to represent
two black felines with a tabby in between, illustrates the Rayist view that
objects may serve as points of departure for explorations on the canvas.
Goncharova used darts of color to suggest the effects of light on the cats’
shiny coats and the way that adjacent surfaces reflect neighboring hues.
The dynamic slashes of black and white evoke the energized, machine-inspired
compositions of the Futurists.
The artist’s brilliant color recalls Robert
Delaunay’s exuberant depictions of the Eiffel Tower as well as Russian
woodblock prints and painted trays. Cats also suggests the richly hued integration
of animals and their environment that Franz
Marc was developing contemporaneously in his own synthesis of Cubism
and Futurism.
Yet unlike Marc and other German Expressionist painters, Rayist painters
did not seek to express spiritual goals through their art.
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