Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin, 1861-1939

Fishing on a Sunny Day is a superlative example of Korovin's work en plein air. The artist's favourite pastimes were fishing and hunting, subjects often to be reflected in works he painted before emigration to France in 1923.  The offered lot was painted in Okhotino, a village on the bank of the small river Nerl in the Pereyaslavl region where Korovin bought a house after the birth of his son in 1887 and stayed there frequently in the summer months. In 1914 and 1915 Korovin spent most of the year in the Crimean coastal town of Gurzuf, but moved north to Okhotino when the heat became intolerable.

In many of his works featuring views of Okhotino, the artist romanticises the provincial wooden architecture and the simple modesty of life in the Russian north.  Usually in these works he employs a subdued palette, similar to that of his contemporary Valentin Serov, however, On the River shines with bright colours of the south. Indeed, in terms of its colour scheme it is much closer to his Crimean work Gurzuf (1914) rather than other Okhotino fishing scenes, such as In the Boat (1914).

In On the River Korovin's impressionist style is at its most fully developed.  Short, confident brush strokes serve to outline the buildings on the river bank and the two seated figures.  However, viewed at a distance the work appears coherent and in sharp focus.  Despite this preoccupation with the decorative elements of the painting, the artist artfully conveys the simple pleasures of fishing in the quite early hours of a warm summer morning.