Mikhail Fedorovich Larionov

The canvas has been laid on composition board. There are minor frame abrasions with associated paint loss along all the edges. There are pin-holes in each of the corners of the canvas and the centre of the upper and lower edges. There is a tear to the canvas approximately 1cm in length to the left of the signature. There is a layer of surface dirt. Inspection under UV light does not reveal any obvious signs of retouching. Held in a wooden and plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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In 1928, the avant-garde critic Nikolai Punin described the impressionist works of Mikhail Larionov as an important contribution to the development of Russian modernism. This atmospheric rendition of a deserted beach scene, the light falling darkly as inclement weather approaches, is suggestive of an early period of artistic experimentation in which the artist was visibly exploring French stylistic influences. Its gentle palette evokes the quietude and attention to mood that were associated with the Russian impressionist landscape school of the turn of the 20^th century.

It is difficult to date Larionov’s landscapes with any great certainty. His earlier works do use a muted array of blues, greys and greens consistent with the practice of the early twentieth-century Symbolists, as opposed to the colourful primitivism which characterised later works. His 1969 retrospective exhibition at the Galerie de Paris included three comparable beach scenes thought to date from 1902 and 1903, including Parc au Bord de l’Eau, a not dissimilar composition to the present work in which the sea is visible through a pattern of tree trunks and leaves. During these formative years Impressionism was Larionov’s favoured style and he exhibited numerous such works with The World of Art and the Union of Russian Artists. These works also launched his international career.