VLADIMIR WEISBERG | Loaves and Apples on a Burgundy Tablecloth

Acquired from Petr Plavinsky, brother of Dmitri Plavinsky, via RedArt Gallery, Moscow

V.G.Weisberg: Zhivopis', akvarel', risunok, Moscow: State Tretyakov Gallery, 1994, p.100, no.63 incorrectly listed under works from 1950

Still lifes such as Loaves and Apples on a Burgundy Tablecloth (1949-1950) are quite common in Vladimir Weisberg’s work of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The similar Loaves in a Sieve, Clay Jug (1950), from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow is a case in point. A strongly extended horizontal format, a dynamic off-centre composition, and a bright clear colour scheme are the distinguishing features of the early still lifes by this painter labouring under the influence of the Jack of Diamonds. The Flemish-style abundance of food, and frieze-like composition, in which the still life stands in relief against the light background and narrow strip of table delineating the foreground, are inspired by the works of Ilya Mashkov. Mashkov’s characteristic vitality is also present in the early work of Vladimir Weisberg. It comes out in his rich impastoed brushwork and in the material quality of forms. The painter sculpts shapes with the help of individual strokes of local colours, following the concept of the unity of form and colour developed by Cézanne, whom the Jack of Diamonds considered to be one of their masters. However, unlike Cézanne, he avoids drawing the contours of objects. Their outlines, whether an apple or a loaf of bread, are painted with colour which interacts with the adjoining areas. These vibrating borders appear to have been immersed in the atmosphere around them. Already in these early still lifes the desire to convey the harmony and wholeness of the visible world interested Weisberg more than the corporality and materiality of objective reality.

We are grateful to Dr Elena Khlopina for providing this catalogue note.