Iosif Evstafevich Krachkovsky

Possibly exhibited Paris, Galeries Georges Petit, Exposition Joseph Kratchcovsky: Paysages de Crimée, 29 May - 10 June 1908, No.73

Original canvas which is slightly uneven. There is some light surface dirt and frame abrasions resulting in some paint loss along the lower edge. There is residue of gold paint, probably from a previous frame, along the upper edge and top left corner. UV light reveals some possible minor retouching in the lower left quadrant. Held in a gold painted wood and plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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This delightful depiction of the onset of summer encapsulates the appealing and uplifting qualities which made Krachkovsky such a popular artist during his lifetime. While Krachkovsky was still studying under Mikhail Klodt at the Academy of Arts, Pavel Tretyakov bought one of his first landscapes, The Smedov River at Dulebovo (1876) a rare honour for a realist student. Yet despite a firm schooling grounded in the theories of the Barbizon school and Itinerants, he stands somewhat apart from his contemporaries, remaining a strict adherent to Academic principles and avoiding the socio-political overtones of the Itinerants and the distinctive melancholy of early Russian landscapists. His passion for colour took him instead on annual trips to admire the oleanders and mimosas of the Crimea during the 1890s and later to similarly flourishing landscapes in southern France and Italy. Firm in his belief that art could not improve on nature, Krachkovsky openly worked from photographs, which may account for the deep contrasts that characterise his best works. The gamut of colours in the present landscape, in particular the intense pink of the blossom, exchanges profundity for an almost 18^th century rococo delight in landscape to great effect.

 

The irrepressible brightness of Krachkovsky's work remained immensely popular amid debate over artistic values at the turn of the century. His southern landscapes were bought by Nicholas II and members of the aristocracy and solo exhibitions were held in St Petersburg (1902, 1916), Paris and Nice (1908), at Georges Petit's famous gallery. According to Zola "the 'apotheosis' of dealers", Georges Petit (1856-1920) founded his gallery in 1881 and handled the most important artists of the period, including Degas, Monet and Rodin.