Newsletter

August 2014

Welcome to the End of August Newsletter!

Добро пожаловать в информационный бюллетень Августа!

The August 10th "super" full moon, rising above St. Isaac's cathedral, Saint Petersburg

Alexander V. Kushnirenko, "Sunny Day"
28¼'' x 33¾'',1964, Oil on Canvas
Estimate $6,000- $7,000, Current Bid $2,500, P. M.
The auction ends at 6:00 pm, Sunday August 31st

August Silent Auction

As our August auction choice we are pleased to present a great work by a renowned Russian landscape artist, Alexander Vasilievich Kushnirenko.

Born in 1930, Alexander Vasilievich was very young during the Great Patriotic War (1939-1945) and unlike the members of the generation before him, his life was not totally dominated by the war and its aftermath.

A product of the window of openness during the Khrushchev years, Kushnirenko was an important member of the group of 1960's artists who saw the beauty, color and the vitality of life after the horrors of the war. Their landscapes are particularly calm and evocative of a time of optimism and possibility.

Olya Cheney with Tom McCarthey

Olya Cheney: Exhibition of New Works Continues!

A big thank you to everyone who joined us last month for the opening of Olya Cheney's exhibition. Olya is one the Gallery's favorite and best selling artists. Out of the more than 20 new works, only a few are left. The exhibition runs through mid-September.

Olya is a delightful blend of East and West-- an ideal match for the Gallery. Olya is a Russian-born artist who now lives and paints in Utah! New works from her include many well-known landmarks from around Park City and several noted landscapes of the Wasatch Mountains and Southern Utah.

Born Olga Alexandrovna Kovalova in 1972 in Semipalatinsk, Shyghys Qazaqstan, Kazakhstan, Olya has always harbored a love of art. Living in such places as Kazakhstan, Russia, Sakhalin Island (above Japan), California, and now Utah, Olya has developed an exceptionally unique and often times breath-taking artistic style.

Vladimir A. Vasin, "Moscow View" 9'' x 14½'', 1970, Oil on Board $1,700

New Works

The Gallery continues to receive many new works, including the first shipment of some spectacular Russian Hand-Painted Mother of Pearl Portrait Miniature Brooch's!

Be sure to stop by the Gallery or visit the Gallery web site as you are certain to find a great work for your collection that fits your interest, taste and budget!

Magic of Russian Landscapes Masterpieces from the State Tretykov Gallery, Moscow

The Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, in Lausanne Switzerland, is currently hosting an exceptional collection of works from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Some seventy paintings document the finest achievements of the Russian landscape school Russian landscape school of painting between 1855 and 1917, from the beginning of the reign of Tsar Alexander II to the October Revolution of 1917.

The 1860's were notable for the emergence of a generation of artists who turned their backs on academicism, and set out in search of a national, realistic, romantic art, appropriate for conveying the special characteristics of the "Russian soul". The sea, mountains, forests and skies of the vast Empire, the passage of the seasons from dawn to nightfall, peasant customs, and rural and urban buildings convey that new sensibility and that aspiration for renewal. The artists exhibited include Ivan Aivazovsky, Ivan Shishkin, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Mikhail Nesterov, Ilya Repin, Alexei Savrasov, and Vasily Vereshchagin.

B. Kustodiev, "Loan of Freedom" Poster. 1917

The Russian Museum Presents

"First World War", 1914-1918

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, and across Europe it is being remembered with exhibitions, lectures, theatrical presentations and the release of several new books.

Russia entered World War I on Aug. 1, 1914, when Germany declared war against the Russian Empire and 2 million soldiers were soon called to fight.

Like elsewhere, the start of the war in Russia was marked by an upsurge of patriotism. St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, people with German roots changed their surnames to Russian ones, and many artists and museum workers volunteered to go to the front lines, where many were wounded or killed.

St. Petersburg's Russian Museum is among the first art museums in the country to now recognize and pay respect to World War I with its new exhibition, "The First World War, 1914-1918," devoted to the memory of the victims of the conflict.

Read more....

Margarita Kolobova", Znamenskey Cathedral"
23½'' x 27½'', 2010, Oil on Canvas, $2,950

Gallery Stroll Tonight, Friday August 29th

For this month's gallery stroll, we will be featuring several new works in the Treasure Chest along with a mini exhibition of works by Margartia Kolobova.

The Gallery Stroll takes place the last Friday of every month and is sponsored by the Park City Gallery Association. The stroll takes place from 6 to 9 p.m.

Enjoy the newsletter!

Stephen Justesen, Gallery Director

Contact the Gallery...

August Silent Auction

Congratulations to S. McCarthey who placed the winning bid of $2,250 for July's two silent auction works "Spring Countryside" and "Fall Fields" by Victor Kirillovich Gaiduk, Estimated at $3,500- $4,000.

As our August auction choice we are pleased to present another great work by a renowned Russian landscape artist, Alexander Vasilievich Kushnirenko.

A product of the window of openness during the Khrushchev years, Kushnirenko was an important member of the group of 1960's artists who saw the beauty, color and vitality of life after the long, horrors of the war. Their landscapes are particularly calm and evocative of a time of optimism and possibility.

The painting 'Sunny Day' typifies that colorful, plein air, optimism that describes the Soviet artists of the 1960's. The war was over, the economy was booming, Stalin was dead and the Soviet system had not yet descended into crumbling stagnation.

We invite you to participate in this month's auction and thank everyone who placed bids last month. The Current bid is just $2,500! The next bid is $2,750, followed by minimum bidding increments of $250. Please note that you may place a maximum bid and the Gallery will bid on your behalf up to your maximum. Bids will be taken via telephone, fax, or e-mail until the auction ends at 6:00 pm, Sunday August 31st.

Follow all the bidding updates on the Gallery's web site.

BID FORM VIEW FULL SIZE IMAGE

Kushnirenko, Alexander Vasilievich "Sunny Day"
28¼'' x 33¾'', 1964, Oil on Canvas
Estimate $6,000- $7,000, Current Bid $2,500 P.M.

Quotes from "An Evening in Memory of Alexander Kushnirenko, PERFECT UNION FAMILY KUSHNIRENKO" at the V. Vereshchagin Nikolaev Regional Art Museum

- Pravda, March 6, 2008,
(translated from the original Ukrainian)

"Alexander Kouchnirenko forever remains in our hearts" - these words opened an exhibition dedicated to the memory of the master artist and member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Alexander Vasilyevich Kushnirenko.

But the memory of the master lives in the hearts of those who have ever seen his paintings: his haunting military and war subjects, extraordinarily beautiful landscapes, stunning portraits and, of course, Alexander Vasilyevich never forget his family and friends. These people gathered at the opening of the exhibition "Beautiful is Our Union" in Nikolaev Regional Art Museum named after V.V. Vereshchagin."

Alexander Vasilievich Kushnirenko b. 1930- 1993

Alexander V. Kushnirenko was born in 1930 in the village of Chirokaya Balka, Kherson region. In the post-war years, after the prime school, he entered the Art School in Odessa, where he attended the classes of professor L. Muchnik, V. Tokarev and other teachers. From 1958 he worked as artist-decorator in the Nikolaevask Art workshops. The creative and exhibit activity of Alexander Kushnirenko also began in late 50s.

Alexander Kushnirenko belongs to the group of "Artists of the 60s" who influenced very much the cultural life of the Union of Artists in Nikolaev.

In the late 1950s-early 1960s, the creative section of young artists -- V. Firsov, A. Zavgorodnij, V. Zolotukhin, A. Kushnirenko and others -- started an active work in Nikolaev. They often went to the environs of Nikolaev, to Sumy territory, to the lands of Chernigov, got together to exchange with their findings in painting, organized collective exhibitions. Many sketches of that period became a masterpiece.

Alexander Kushnirenko mainly depicts lyric landscapes where his talent has been disclosed in full. His painting, as often happens with the artist, reflects the personality of the author. It shows the lyric gift of the artist, his wit, for Kushnirenko writes verses and epigrams.

The artist has pleased his admirers with a number of beautiful landscapes and sketches. They have opened in full the inner romantic world of the master, his pictorial and poetic gift.

Alexander Kouchnirenko was a participant of regional, national and international exhibitions. His works are in private and public collections in Ukraine, Russia, France, Austria, the United States.

Olya Cheney, New Works
Exhibition Continues through mid-September

Born Olga Alexandrovna Kovalova in 1972 in Semipalatinsk, Shyghys Qazaqstan, Kazakhstan, Olya has always harbored a love of art. As a result of her father's service in the Soviet military, she has lived in many places throughout Russia. Living on military bases, Olya was unable to attend formal art school, but that did not keep her from dreaming of a life as a painter. She spent countless hours watching local artists paint . Inspired by the works of Paul Rubens and Isaac Levitan, she pursued her craft by studying art books, spent countless hours watching and learning from other artists and finally by practicing on her own. Living in such places as Kazakhstan, Russia, Sakhalin Island (above Japan), California, and now Utah, Olya has developed an exceptionally unique and and often times breath-taking artistic style.

"Big Cottonwood Canyon Lake", 24'' x 36'', 2014, Oil on Canvas, $2,200

"Autumn Panorama, Park City", 24'' x 36'', 2014, Acrylic on Canvas, $2,550

"Park City Ski Resort", 18'' x 24'', 2014, Oil on Canvas, $1,300

"Orange Branch"
16'' x 20'', 2013, Acrylic on Canvas, $900

"First Fall of Snow, Little Cottonwood Canyon"
6'' x 20'', 2014, Acrylic on Canvas, $990

"Summer Day, Snowbird", 24'' x 36'', 2014, Acrylic on Canvas, $2,000

"Patch of Blue Sky", 8'' x 10'', 2014, Oil on Canvas, $600

A Sampling of New Works!

Russian Hand-Painted Mother of Pearl Portrait Miniature Brooch's

Several beautiful Russian hand-painted Mother of Pearl Portrait Miniature Brooch's have arrived!
Set in a German silver double rope bevel edge filigree mount, $225.

Marty Ricks, "Fisherman. Rain"
36'' x 48'', 2012, Oil on Canvas $9,800

Marty Ricks, "Morning Rainstorm"
30'' x 40'', 2006, Oil on Canvas $7,200

Kapitalina A. Rumayntseva, "Summer Boquet"
31½'' x 25½'', 2000, Oil on Canvas, $12,000

Sergei N. Vedeneyev, "Khosta. Morning in the Mountains", 15¼'' x 19¼'', 1991, Oil on Board $2,500

Georgy Alekseevich Andrienko, "Village Church" 4¼'' x 6'', Tempera on Paper, $350

Victor Kirillovich Gaiduk, "Summer Landscape" 8¾'' x 11'', 1970"s, Oil on Cardboard, $800

Margarita Kolobova, "Boats" 23½'' x 31½'', 2012, Oil on Boar, $2,500

Margarita Kolobova, "Blossoming Lilac", 29½'' x 21¾'', 2013, Oil on Canvas, $2,250

Magic of Russian Landscapes

Masterpieces from The State Tretykov Gallery, Moscow

Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne Switzerland, Through October 5th

Nikolai Kuznetsov, "Feast Day", 1879, Oil on Canvas

The Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne Switzerland is showing an outstanding collection of major works from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Around seventy paintings document the finest achievements of the Russian landscape school in the 19th century. The 1860's were notable for the emergence of a generation of artists who turned their backs on academicism, and set out in search of a national, realistic, romantic art, appropriate for conveying the special characteristics of the "Russian soul". The sea, mountains, forests and skies of the vast Empire, the passage of the seasons from dawn to nightfall, peasant customs, and rural and urban buildings convey that new sensibility and that aspiration for renewal. The artists exhibited include Ivan Aivazovsky, Ivan Shishkin, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Mikhail Nesterov, Ilya Repin, Alexei Savrasov, and Vasily Vereshchagin.

While many people see the contribution of the Russian school to modernism as beginning with the avant-garde in the second decade of the 20th century, the break with academic art started in the mid-19th century. A new generation of artists refused to submit to the diktat of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg.

Abandoning Biblical and mythological subjects, they set out to discover Russian customs and landscapes, revisiting their past in the highly politicised context of the assertion of a national identity, the abolition of serfdom and the belief held by the intelligentsia that art could make a decisive contribution towards building a modern, democratic society.

Konstantin Yuon, "March Sun", 1915, Oil on Canvas

In this context of profound change, landscape played a crucial role. For contemporaries, along with genre painting, it was landscape that could best convey the Russian "soul" and Russian "land". At the time of Russia's greatest territorial expansion, painters set about discovering the seas, mountains and forests of the huge Empire. They observed the sky, the passage of the seasons from dawn to nightfall, they were keen to depict peasant customs, and rural and urban architecture. Rejecting the Italianate landscapes in vogue up to that time, the new school drew inspiration from historical realism (the 17th-century Dutch school) as well as contemporary examples of realism (the Düsseldorf school, the Barbizon school, Impressionism). Stylistically these tendencies nurtured a vision of nature that was certainly realistic, but also powerfully narrative and symbolic.

The landscape painting of this period presents a complex mosaic, and is striking for its diversity, the strong artistic personalities who represent it, and the dynamism of its development. Its different strands include lyrical landscape or "mood landscape" (Savrasov, Kamenev, Levitan, Polenov), a continuation of Romantic landscape (Aivazovsky, Vassiliev, Kuindzhi), the naturalistic and documentary tendency (Shishkin), and finally the academic tendency (Lagorio, Bogoliubov, Mechtcherski).

Maintaining close links with the writers of the golden age of Russian literature (Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky), and the musicians in The Five group (Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Mussorgsky), as well as a new generation of art critics (Stasov), the artists represented in the exhibition were members of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions, a means of making their art known to a wider public, or they maintained close links with it. The Itinerants or Wanderers organized exhibitions that stopped in the main cities of the Empire: apart from St. Petersburg and Moscow, cities including Orel, Kiev, Kharkov, Kichiniov, Odessa, and Warsaw. Their works were collected by a new type of patron, no longer emerging from the aristocracy, but from the Muscovite business or industrial middle classes, people like Savva Mamontov, who gathered artists from what was known as the Abramtsevo artistic circle, or Pavel Tretyakov, the greatest collector of Russian Realist art. Tretyakov founded the first national Russian art gallery which he gave to the city of Moscow in 1892. Today the State Tretyakov Gallery, the organizer of the exhibition to be seen in Lausanne, along with the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, holds the largest collection of Russian art in the world.

Themes and their main representatives

Ivan Shishkin, "Countess Mordvinova's Forest, Peterhof", 1891, Oil on canvas

THE FOREST- Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898) was called the "patriarch of the forest" by his contemporaries. He was the main representative of the objective tendency in Realism, and his epic art, monumental and resolutely optimistic, is based on a scientific analysis of nature. His language is clear and precise. His favorite subject is the oak forest, or conifers which are evergreen. The season he prefers is summer, and the time of day he likes best is noon. His world rested on values that were fundamental to him: the soil, his native country, the people, the splendour of life.

Ivan Aivazovsky,"Stormy Sea", 1868, Oil on canvas

THE SEA- Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900), a tutelary figure, Aivazovsky built his reputation on his exceptional virtuosity in depicting the sea, storms and shipwrecks. He was extraordinarily productive (he painted nearly 6,000 works, the majority of them monumental), and carried the heritage of Neo-Classicism and Romanticism on right through the 19th century. The sea for him was both a metaphor for the unpredictable nature of the vagaries of destiny and a symbol of a power that cannot be subdued, that of a people seeking to gain their freedom.

Isaac Levitan, "Above Eternal Peace", 1893, Oil on Canvas

THE SKY- Isaac Levitan (1860-1900) is one of the main representatives of lyrical landscape or "mood landscape". He was a close friend of the writer Anton Chekhov, the two men being linked by their lyrical apprehension of nature, and their veneration for beauty, for the mystery of the world. Levitan's painting, extremely constructed and static in its forms, vigorous in its treatment, results from observations that are synthesized in the studio. Its emotive, solemn character is conveyed by the juxtaposition of broad brushstrokes and the use of wide coloured surfaces.

Arkhip Kuindzhi, "Mount Elbrus, Moonlit Night", 1890-1895, Oil on Paper mounted on canvas

THE NOCTURNES- Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1910), one of the most original painters of his generation, was fascinated by the way in which nature is transfigured by light. He was dubbed the "adorer of the sun and the moon". The synthesizing treatment of forms, the transformation of volume into silhouette, and the intensification of the contrasts

of light and colour mean that his moonlit landscapes resemble decorative panels or theatre sets, making them precursors of Art Nouveau, and him a fellow traveller of the Symbolists.

Aleksei Savrasov, "Rustic View", 1867, Oil on canvas

SPRING- Prior to Aleksei Savrasov (1830-1897, ill. 10), nature in Russia was not thought worthy of being depicted. The landscapes of Italy were more admired. Savrasov was the inventor of the "motif" of spring, no longer the season for lovers' agitation, but a special metaphor for renewal, the political and societal changes so much hoped for at the time of the abolition of serfdom. This motif would be very popular after him, repeated in painting by artists from Igor Grabar to Mikhail Larionov, and in music in works ranging from Snegurochka - The Snow Maiden - by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to the Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

Ilya Repin, "On the Boundary Path, V. A. Repina and Her Children", 1879

SUMMER- Ilya Repin (1844-1930), the best known of the Itinerant painters, was the movement's spearhead, and its showcase abroad. His work was influenced by French Impressionism during the time he spent in Paris. A subtle colorist and a brilliant observer of physiognomies, he loved life in all its manifestations. His rustic scenes of life in the dacha attracted reproaches from his friend the writer Leo Tolstoy; in his view, the artist should put himself at the service of society, work to educate it, and contribute to its moral improvement.

Boris Kustodiev, "Carnival", 1916, Oil on Canvas

WINTER- Coming from the generation following that of the first Itinerant painters, Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927), was one of Ilya Repin's pupils. He belonged to the Union of Russian Artists, a Muscovite association in which painting acquired greater diversity of colors, and broke free of heavy, sombre hues to become lighter and sunnier. These painters whose works strike a major key are notable for their moral liveliness, their optimistic, view of the world, and their faith in the future. Kustodiev's winter scenes have great affinities with the art of the lacquer miniatures from Palekh.

World War I Remembered

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, and across Europe it is being remembered with exhibitions, lectures, theatrical presentations and the release of new books.

Russia entered World War I on Aug. 1, 1914, when Germany declared war against the Russian Empire and 2 million soldiers were soon called to fight.

A crowd of people has gathered on the Dvortsovaia (Palace) square in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Russian Tsar Nikolai II comes to the balcony to read the declaration of War of The Russian empire on Germany. The crowd welcomed the declaration with patriotic joy and enthusiasm. Some people held banners, "Slavic people unite!", "Let Serbia Live!", "It is a Slavic hour now!", "All for one and one for all!", "For the Motherland!".

Enjoy a look back with these wide screen documentary photos of the event that took place in the capital of Russia on August the 2nd, 1914. Three years later in 1917 the Tsar would read another declaration abdicating the throne - causing Imperial Russia to cease to exist.

Tsar Nicholas II, wearing an English uniform with his cousin George V, in a Russian regimental uniform

The Russian Museum Presents

"First World War", 1914-1918

St. Petersburg's Russian Museum is among the first art museums to now recognize and pay respect to World War I with a new exhibition, "The First World War, 1914-1918," devoted to the memory of the participants and victims of the war.

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, "Thirst Warrior"

The exhibition sheds light on hundreds of artists and museum curators who fought on the front lines, participated in military brigades, created patriotic works of art and raised the morale of the soldiers.

Among the 200-plus exhibits on display are paintings, drawings done during short breaks between battles, the covers of satirical magazines, posters and pieces of folk art. A sound installation also fills the halls with the songs, marches and waltzes of the era, adding to the atmosphere.

In addition to this exhibition, the museum also has a display featuring a large and rich collection of photographs and films taken during that same time period. Throughout the display, viewers can see how Russian society was optimistic and certain of victory over Germany and Austria.

As criticism increased, the country entered another period, one of strikes and social unrest. The Russian Empire soon collapsed, and although it lost 900,000 soldiers and officers on the front lines, Russia was not invited to participate in signing the peace treaty after the war ended.

G. Narbut, "Cossak and Germans" Page number one from the "War pictures" series, 1914

After the war, in Russia's new, post-revolutionary society, nobody wanted to hear about the heroes of World War I, about the injured, or about the misery of the displaced populations. It became referred to as the "Forgotten War," and the new government prohibited the wearing of medals awarded during the course of the war as new heroes and new awards were promoted during the Russian Civil War.

The exhibition also displays a number of rare items, such as a monumental canvas by Vasily Shukhaev entitled "Regiment at the Emplacement Site." When it was shown in 1917 it was named "A Requiem for Russian Officers," with an intense drama captured under an appearance of calm in the painting as the viewer knows that in a few hours these officers will die.

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. "On the Firing Line", 1916. Oil on Canvas

Another striking painting is "In the Line of Fire" by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. The artist shows three young, handsome men in the last seconds of their lives and uses intense reds and greens to convey despair and futile bravery.

Many of the large, mosaic-like canvasses on display, with deep, somber colors, were made by the enigmatic and tragic Russian genius Pavel Filonov. Looking at his work, it is obvious that before the start of the war he foresaw the disaster. Some of his works show the cynical dividing-up of the spoils of victory, such as in his "Feast of the Kings."

Pavel Filonov, "The Feast of Kings", 1913. Oil on Canvas

A more modern piece in the exhibition is a bronze sculpture called "Soldier" by the contemporary Russian artist Andrei Kovalchuk, who finished it in 2013. The sculpture manages to connect the present to the past and honors the heroes of World War I, making it a striking and memorable work of art.

Other smaller museums in St. Petersburg are commemorating the anniversary this year with their own exhibitions, such as the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps and the Military Medicine Museum, where an exhibition pays tribute to the courage of doctors, nurses and professors who organized the medical service during the war.

The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve is also honoring the anniversary with the opening of a new World War I museum in the Martial Chamber. Featuring a permanent display entitled "Russia in the Great War,".

Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery

444 Main Street, P.O. Box 1695, Park City, UT 84060

Tel: 435.658.1691 Fax: 435.658.1730

email: info@McCartheyGallery.net

website: www.McCartheyGallery.net

Winter Hours: Monday - Thursday 11 am to 7 pm.

Friday and Saturday 11 am to 9 pm.

Sunday 11 am to 6 pm

Open until 9 pm for Gallery Stroll (the last Friday of every month)

Stephen Justesen Robin Valline Jannett Heckert Daniele Bradley

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