Boris Israilovich Anisfeld

Shepherd Gallery, New York (acquired directly from the family of the artist)

St. Petersburg, Mir Iskusstva, 1916
Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum, The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition, 1918, no. 63, traveling exhibition
New York, Reinhardt Galleries, The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition, 1924, no. 10
Boston, Boston Art Club and Twentieth-Century Club, 1924, no. 31
Buffalo, Albright Art Gallery, 1928, no. 6
New York, Shepherd Gallery, Boris Anisfeld in St. Petersburg 1901 - 1917, Fall 1984, no. 47
Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto, "Fantast-Mystic": Twelve Russian Paintings from the Collection of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum, no. 11, traveling exhibition

Brinton, Christian. The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition, Brooklyn, 1918, no. 63, illustrated
Louis Weinberg, "The Art of Boris Anisfeld," The International Studio, November 1918, p. x
Henry Tyrrell, "The Exotic Art of Boris Anisfeld," The Christian Science Monitor, undated c. 1918
N.N. "A Russian Painter and New York Water Colorists," The Nation, November 16, 1918, p. 595
F.W. Coburn, "Russian Artist Exhibits Works," The Boston Herald, Dember 10, 1918
A.J. Philpott, "New Thrill from Anisfeld Pictures," The Boston Globe, December 10, 1918
W.H.D. "The Anisfeld Pictures," The Evening Transcript (Boston), c. November 10, 1918
Francois G. de Cisneros, "La Opulencia Bizantina: Boris Anisfeld," Social (Havana), 1918, p. 19, illustrated
Christian Brinton, "The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition," Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, January 1919, p. 11, 18
"Boris Anisfeld Pantings Big Art Feature," Buffalo News, January 18, 1919
Marjorie Kinkead, "Boris Anisfeld: Colorist," Asia, February 19, 1919, pp. 171-172, illustrated
May Fanton Roberts, "The Great Russia Put on Canvas, Illustrated by the Paintings of Boris Anisfeld," Touchstone, February 1919, p. 329
Jessie C. Glasier, "Many Anisfeld Canvases Have Exquisite Charm as Well as Crash of Color," Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 23, 1919
"Cleveland," American Art News, March 29, 1919
Marguerite B. Williams, "Painted His Pictures as Russ Guns Roared-Boris Anisfeld's Exhibition in Chicago Full of Slav Atmosphere," Chicago News, April 5, 1919
"New Paintings at Institute Form Notable Exhibit," Chicago Tribune, April 6, 1919
Marcus, "Anisfeld's Paintings Give Thrills to Visitors at Institute," Chicago Herald, April 10, 1919
[Untitled], Bulletin of Art Institute of Chicago, May 1919, p. 70, illustrated
"Anisfeld Exhibition Still Big Attraction," San Francisco Bulletin, May 28, 1919
"The Anisfeld Collection," San Francisco Argonaut, May 31, 1919
"Boris Anisfeld's Pictures," St. Louis Mirror, July 24, 1919
"Anisfeld Pictuers at Art Instititure," Milwaukee News, September 20, 1919
M.B. Mayhew, "Anisfeld Works Attract Critics," Milwaukee Sentinel, September 1919
P.B. "Anisfeld Pictures Opulent in Color," Art News, March 29, 1924
Marguerite B. Williams, "About a Painter without Theories," Chicago Daily News, January 8, 1930
Shepherd Gallery, Boris Anisfeld in St. Petersburg 1901-1917, New York, 1984, no. 47, plate 47, illustrated
Roger J. Mesley, "Fantast-Mystic": Twelve Russian Paintings from the Collection of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum, Toronto, p. 60-63, illustrated

In Greek mythology, the Hesperides, also known as the Daughters of the Evening, the Erythrai, or the Western Maidens, were typically a triad of nymphs who guarded a luscious walled paradise at the Western-most corner of the world, perhaps at the base of Mount Atlas in Africa, or at the ocean's edge near the Island of the Blest. They were maidens of the setting sun, personifying dark clouds brushed with rays of fading light, and they were charged with tending the tree at the garden's center, for this tree bore golden apples, a source of eternal life. Because they were vulnerable and untrustworthy, they were watched over by a never-sleeping dragon (or serpent) named Ladon, the garden's sentinel.

Snatching apples from this garden marked the eleventh labor of Hercules, who forced the God Nereus to divulge its location. Then he either slew Ladon with an arrow, or convinced Atlas, father of the Hesperides, to steal the fruit while he briefly assumed Atlas's burden--bearing the entire heavens. Returning with the apples, Atlas decided he liked his newfound freedom, and he decided to complete Hercules' task and return the apples to Eurystheus. However, Hercules tricked him by asking for help adjusting his cloak; passing the heavens back, Hercules quickly made his escape. In either case, the apples were eventually given to Athena, goddess of Wisdom, who returned them to the Garden of Hesperides where they could be preserved.

The Garden of Hesperides represents Boris Anisfeld's interest in religion--stories of spirituality, not specifically Christian or pagan, that define the condition of humanity, the emotions and philosophies that connect mankind over the ages. By the Renaissance period, the Garden of Hesperides was widely regarded as a pagan equivalent to the Garden of Eden, and Anisfeld evidently took liberty to blend pagan and Christian narratives while extracting images from their context. Rather than three Hesperides he depicts eleven, and rather than a single tree he creates an extravagant grove, teeming with apples of immortality. He also depicts three birds, one golden like the apples, its tail cascading down like a heavenly waterfall. The Hesperides perform a provocative dance, their bodies emerging seductively from the shadows. Their breasts appear analogous to the golden fruit that surrounds them, as if tempting the viewer's sexual desire over his hunger for eternal life. On the right, one nymph prepares to pick an apple while another shakes her finger admonishingly, revealing the Hesperides' dance as a siren's song--these apples are to be desired but not consumed.

The Garden of Hesperides was a rare subject in modern painting, though other examples by English painters Edward Burne-Jones and Frederick Leighton may have inspired Anisfeld, for they were well-known and admired within Mir Iskussta. Unlike Burne-Jones and Leighton who painted literally, reflecting a classical, Pre-Raphaelite style, Anisfeld interpreted The Garden of Hesperides with brilliant colors and radical techniques, creating a philosophical masterpiece that transcends the traditional limitations of art.