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Issues of 2008
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Boris Grigoriev. Return to St. Petersburg
An attempt to display the oeuvre of the apprentice of Repin and Kardovsky taken in 1984 by the museum department of Leningrad region wasn’t successful. Then curators of significant part of artworks from the Pskov regional museum were frightened of noise around of the oeuvre of the master-emigrant. Grigoriev’s works from time to time were shown at complex expositions but all the same didn’t produce the impression of the significant phenomenon, and meanwhile the artist for a long time found world glory. Today, many years passed, organisers of an exhibition “KGallery” decided to acquaint the visitors with the works by the artist from St. Petersburg and Moscow collections reflecting different periods of his oeuvre and different genres. The exposition features fantastic “By Visiting Baba-Yaga”, and erotic works from the “Intimite” series, and certainly portraits of a Breton cycle. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see “Woman from Bourg de Bass” and a portrait of the old woman Breshko-Breshkovskaya, probably, so-called “Grandmother of Russian revolution”. The native of Rybinsk, provincial Russian town, the boy wished to overcome the limits of provincial life and early demonstrated propensity to art which seemed him to be a dream, and mystical condition of soul. He studied at Moscow Stroganov Art¬Industrial School, and then at the Art School of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Though the art had especial value for him, the authorities changes quickly, and his nature learned from all the surrounding world. He looked at D. Kardovsky’s neoclassicism and interested in M. Larionov’s and N. Goncharova’s advance-guarde. He was impressed by the works of “The World of Arts” masters and bucolic Russia by Sergey Sudeykin but he was in search his own style. Game during a life which theatrical cabarets of Petersburg “The Vagrant Dog” and represented “The Halt of Comedians”, was attractive for Grigoriev. He dipped into experiences of bohemia, leaving from this period and the dramatized sketches and even lists on walls of artistic corners, and a brilliant portrait of the genius – the villain basement small world of Meierhold with the red double-symbol.
In 1913, Grigoriev goes to Paris for the first time. It is possible to tell about Grigoriev in Paris: “He saw Paris and became an artist”. He created many pictures with views of the city for a short period. His oeuvres featured by thin view of the world. The Paris period artworks exposed in Petersburg made him famous. Boris Grigoriev has been deducted from the Academy of Arts because his grotesque execution of examination academy work couldn’t be named worthy by the examinators. Then he became an absolutely free artist. He went across the Europe in searches of new start points for creation. He travelled to France and Italy, to Greece and Switzerland. Portraits¬masks and landscapes-scenery, scenes, reminding a joke, – all directs creativity on a way of the venomous and bright exposer of daily occurrence. In the canvases, drawings, book illustrations he grimaced, dared, laughed loudly or humiliating giggled at the spectator. The interpreter of an art life Alexander Benoi of which clauses the intelligence of Petersburg and Moscow has become engrossed in reading, once responded to occurrence of unexpected talent: “…Here is the torturer! The talented original artist, but painful extremely. Here whom I appreciate, but who is not pleasant to me… However, perhaps, this instantaneousness also will give in due course to his works special typicalness and reliability. And that he transfers the tone of our mean time, his most mean grimace and the music under which he dances the devil dance, he’s not necessary to doubt of it. The most important, that at the artist does not suffice desire to deepen the problem, to concern to it more thoughtfully, there is too a superfluous feature of time…” (“Speech”, October 28, 1916). The Russian realities, the destiny of Russia continued to pursue Grigoriev. In 1921, in Paris the exhibition of Russian emigrants¬artists’ works was opened. The participants were united to the artistic community. The leader of the union prince A. Shervashidze talk about Grigoriev that he was the only Russian artist “compound” by accident in Russia. That Grigoriev’s art painfully was also connected with Russia, known it in emigration art workers repeatedly marked: “In his cycle “Russian persons” it is necessary long and to peer study… Then much from gone through becomes us clear, as well as the heavy way and a feat of our revival becomes clear. He is the typical artist of the trembling validity, not only on themes, but also on techniques of the letter… ” (N. Mogilansky. “Latest news”, Paris, June 21, 1921). And other witness of an ascention of Grigoriev to the Olympus of the world art, A. Levinson, having visited on Autumn interior in Paris, before a canvas “Rosea” was expressed even more brightly and sharply: “…Even here on it intolerably presses delusion bolshevik Russia; he’s chained to it, is sick of it, his imagination is poisoned by his poisonous gases. In 17 year he’s in a remarkable number of figures has embodied an image of rustic “Rosea”. He took away these images with himself in exile; here they tortured him constantly, spreading, being excited, growing and being deformed every day, covering from it all” (“The Latest News”, Paris, November 22, 1921).
Grigoriev was invited for the decoration of personal exhibitions to Pavolotsky gallery (Paris), to Carnegie’s Academy of the USA, to the exhibition centres of Pittsburg, Philadelphia. After “Rosea” the artist turns to a theatrical theme, executing an interesting cycle of portraits of the Russian actors-emigrants went to Europe for the tour. Then landscape cycles with Bretogne cities and deserted villages. All the same the pain of tragedy doesn’t release Grigoriev, and he addresses to F. Dostoevsky’s oeuvres. The artist creates a cycle of illustrations to “Karamazov Brothers”. One of the first who estimated the oeuvre and made about it sharp and philosophical definition, there was a same exile, the artist and the collector prince Sergey Scherbatov. Here is how he characterized the colleague on art and the person: “At a kind of cleanly Russian figure subsequently some americanized, from this good fellow it was difficult to expect so painful, reaching up to visionary, the art disturbing, interesting, sometimes pushing away, but always talented. In this direction the best and the most significant, that it has made, perhaps, there was a greater series of compositions on a theme of Karamazov brothers. Here there is a penetration not so much in Dostoevsky, how many in the world of hallucinations, human horror with doubtless painful genius. I long closely considered them, in so fantastic conditions what were Grigoriev’s imaginations, gloomy dark Parisian cafe where Grigoriev late has brought to me a heavy folder at night, wishing by all means to show me this series and to learn my opinion… Do you know that I have told to Grigoriev? You’re only Cain in everything, and at Dostoevsky in fact had also Avel…” (S. Scherbatov. The artist in the left Russia. New York, 1955. p. 327). Everyone who knew Grigoriev’s works paid attention to the skill of his art language by means of which the plans and visions were embodied in real objects of art. It made him to open schools-studios in France, to give drawing and composition lessons in America and even to create the academic art centres. In 1928, the artist went to Santiago to teach drawing and composition under the invitation of the Chilean government. Someone who knew Grigoriev’s works by the western sources even approve that Grigoriev headed the Academy of Arts though he worked there rather short time. After a while he went again to Chile, Argentina and Brazil where he executes a few hundreds of sketches. The master’s stormy life don’t make a concentration of its numerous canvases in one or a few collections, therefore it’s difficult to demonstrate Grigoriev’s oeuvre as a monograph. So grand exhibition of works of the brilliant master (more than fifty artworks) opens significant and interesting page of Russian and foreign art to the visitors.
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