10, Krymsky Val, halls 60–61
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By the open window. Portrait of F.I.Chaliapin's daughters. 1916

After the success of the Levitan’s exhibition, The Tretyakov Gallery continues to acquaint  one with the Moscow artistic school. The largest project of the year explores Konstantin Korovin’s evolution from his early years experiments down to his last Paris works. This artist has organically grasped and reexamined the traditions of the European art. Later he earned the fame of “the first Russian impressionist”.

 In the end of 1870^th the realism in Russian art was predominant. Eventually the public began getting tired with the acute social images in the Itinerants’ paintings, so the young painters started looking for a new visual language. It caused the unrestrained experimentation with theme, colour and depicting manner and begot the phenomenon of so-called Russian impressionism.

Impressionistic methods influenced Korovin’s oeuvre in a large measure. It was not only the concept of “impression” reflected in the painter’s spontaneous manner, but also the choice of themes. Korovin demonstrated urban and countryside landscapes made in the open air and the images of people in their daily surroundings. Finally the artist’s entire pictorial system was musical, as we can see it in Korovin’s “nocturnes”.

 However, we cannot take this author as impressionist for all in all. Unlike French painters Korovin didn’t disown the usage of black colour. The flashes of other artistic worldviews appeared in his pictures and from time to time we can see some traits of neo-romanticism (The north Idyll, 1886), expressionism (Lady with apples. Natalia Agapieva’s portrait, 1922) and art-nouveau (Fishing in the Murman sea).

Fishing in the Murman sea. 1896

Korovin took interest in different kinds of creative work. He worked in genres of monumental painting and scenography, made experiments in design and even literature. The climax of his glory fell at the last years of the century. Then Korovin made several monumental series devoted to the Russian North. The views of the vast country displayed at the 1900 World’s Fair were new and unfamiliar to the public and caused a huge response. Korovin left Paris, carrying away two golden and five silver medals. 

Korovin is also considered as the reformer of Russian theatre in scene decoration. At 1900 he headed the painting workshops of The Big Theatre in Moscow and The Mariinsky Theatre in Saint-Petersburg. The scenic images made by Korovin helped to refresh the perception of the classical pieces. Large part of the current display is based on Korovin’s setting designs for Russian operas and ballets. Among the numerous sketches for decorations the visitors can see the original costumes and the setting for Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Golden Cockerel”.