Soviet Impressionism

[Stanka Kordic]

...without resorting to the painter's maul-stick and a one-hair brush, the working class impressionists attacked their canvases with surprising boldness and passion.

Hi everyone,

I came across this wonderful book by Vern Grosvenor Swanson in the midst of my recent re-evaluation of my own body of work. It inspired me to no end to go ahead and plunk my paint!

These folks are no resemblance to the French Impressionists (although I like them too). It is chock full of color plates, 176 in all, and it covers the time period of 1917-1991.

The subject matter includes landscapes, portraits, and some historical, narrative work. The portraits especially resonated with me (of course). These painters have a boldness with paint, an honesty of expression that I've rarely seen. Somehow, they have been able to produce exciting, beautiful paintings that far surpass mere prettiness. Its exactly what I needed to see.

(Sorry, I don't have a scanner to show you images.)

[Andrea Evans]

Dear Stanka,

Please look at this website-- [urlhttp://www.overlandgallery.com/[/url]
for Russian and Soviet Impressionism.

A friend of mine loaned me two catalogs from this gallery. One is "Russian Jewels, Russian Impressionist Art 1930-1980," and the other is "Soviet Impressionism, 1930-1980."

I agree with you that it is a great treat to see these works. The thick, lively application of paint and color convey to us the sparkle and vitality of the Russian and Soviet artists' responses to their country's people and landscapes.

I am attempting to scan and attach a reproduction from one of the catalogs, and I will send it soon.

Andrea

[Denise Hall]

Hello Stanka,

I am new to the forum and am enjoying reading and learning from many posts. I wanted to say that I saw the most wonderful exhibit a few years ago at the N.C. Museum of Art ( I live here) on The Polish Paintings from the National Museum, Poznan.The work is of late 19th and early 20th century masterpieces of art by Polish painters.The paintings were truly breathtaking and I bought a book from the museum about the exhibit. They may still have it - it is the regular record of the exhibit with some color plates and lots of great history about the movement. It is also amazing that the art survived at all due to the war, looting by the Nazis and the near total destruction of the city of Poznan.

My brother travels to Poland this summer and I have told him to be sure to visit this museum for this wonderful collection. I feel so fortunate to have been able to view it in North Carolina.I thought you may be interested in this exhibit.
The Book is called: The Naked Soul: Polish fin-de-siecle Paintings from the National Museum, Poznan

[Stanka Kordic]

Andrea,

Thanks for the link to Overland Gallery. The paintings are real gems. They remind me to use more paint!!

Denise,

I will definitely look the Polish Book up, thank you!

[Cynthia Daniel]

You might enjoy the Fleischer Museum site: http://www.fleischer.org/