Georgy Grigorievich Nissky

Acquired directly from the artist in 1964

Ulyanovsk, Plastovskaya osen', 2011

M.Kiselev, Georgy Nissky, Moscow: Izobrazitelnoe iskusstvo, 1972, p.155 listed under works from 1964

Original canvas. There is a layer of light surface dirt. There is a minor repaired hole to the top left corner. Minor flecks of paint loss to the right lower edge, the sky and green trees. Minor creases to the centre. Light surface scratches in places. Faint stretcher bar marks to the upper and lower edges. Held in a simple white wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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One of the iconic Soviet images of the post-war era, Over the Snowy Fields is the first major work by Georgy Nissky to appear at auction. The composition is economical and dynamic, built up by horizontal and vertical lines that cut through the canvas. A low-flying plane draws the viewer’s eye and only on second glance does one notice the vestiges of an older Russia in the form of a horse-drawn cart, lone figure and church spire below the stark horizon line. A slightly earlier version of Over the Snowy Fields is in the collection of the State Russian Museum and the composition features on the cover of a 1961 monograph on the artist (fig.4).

Advances in technology are a unifying theme in Nissky's work. His sweeping landscapes frequently feature new train stations, power plants and the harmony between nature and industrialisation. Gleb Prokhorov writes: “…space is nearly always unfolding to give way to asphalt roads, railways or aerial power lines. Nature cedes its property: the low line of the horizon used by the artist…seems to spread the landscape under the feet of the proud conqueror of nature - the Soviet man” (Art Under Socialist Realism, 1995, p.76).

It is not by accident that the jet plane takes centre stage here. In the 1950s and 1960s, the aviation industry of the Soviet Union was among the most developed in the world and a focus of state policy. The Tupolev TU-104, likely to be the model depicted here, was one of the world's first commercial jet airliners, only the second to enter regular service and larger than its Western counterparts. During this period the Soviet state carrier Aeroflot significantly increased its network to become the world's largest airline.

Georgy Nissky studied under Alexander Drevin and Robert Falk at the Moscow Higher Art and Technical Studios from 1923-1930. He was heavily influenced by his older contemporary Alexander Deineka and the OST aesthetics, while Nissky himself was an important source of inspiration for the younger generation, in particular the representatives of the 'severe style' (fig. 3).