Monday, November 26, 2018

Yuri Pimenov, People's Artist of the USSR (1903-1977) w. 50 Colour Plates



Yuri Pimenov, one of the great artists of the Soviet Union, was born November 26, 1903. Over the course of his remarkable career he captured many aspects of Soviet life. In 1972 Aurora, the Soviet art publishing house, issued a retrospective of his work that included many of his best pieces from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Pimenov tackled varied themes and his work included forays into movie and stage posters as well as theater set design. But to me where he truly shines are in his streetscapes, his portraits of people -- often at work or in the city -- and in his sometime unnerving, atmospheric stills.

Among the 50 pieces posted here 1937's New Moscow is considered one of his masterworks with its sense of vibrancy, energy and transformation. Tyre Tracks (1944) is a haunting snowscape scene during the war. Pouring Rain (1967) and Kaliningrad - Rain (1968) are two of his works that include rain, a backdrop which he greatly enjoyed using. The Beginning of Love (1960) is a very romantic take on a daily transit commute while another portrayal of a couple, The Argument (1968) reminds a bit of Rockwell.

"Marusia, lunch time" (1951-56) marvelously captures women construction workers, while Wedding on Tomorrow's Street (1962) is a favourite of mine as a wedding party is finely decked out in total contrast to the surroundings of the building of a new housing district that is about them. This type of contrast is seen again in Trendsetters of the New District (1961) and Roads (1969).

The Call of the Road (1959) captures that feeling that comes when on the verge of a new journey, while Waiting (1959) is stunning with its uncradled phone leaving one uneasily wondering just what is going on on yet another rainy -- and in this case seemingly bleak -- day.

Pimenov won many of the Soviet Union's highest honours that were awarded to artists. He died in 1977.

“I love to paint rain. This world can be a very beautiful, if a person is currently set at the beauty. If a person has bad at heart, if he is disappointed and sad, rain will put into him melancholy. Urban rain is full of different images and moods. It brings to the artist no less richness of sensations and feelings than the field, covered with gray veil of autumn, than the sparkling drops on pine branches, and the sun through the steamy air of wet forests. On the theme of rain in the city are created a lot of variations in art, and, of course, will be done very much in painting and poetry, and film. In fact, every day we are in a volatile nature, and only absolutely apathetic people are completely...indifferent to it” - Yuri Pimenov 

(click on images to enlarge)





Actress, 1935


Boule de suif, Film Poster, 1934


Golden Nude, 1932


Woman in a Hammock, 1934


Figure Study with a Pitcher, 1932


Still-life with Straw Hat, 1936


Rose Nude, 1932


Portrait of Zinaida Reich, 1934


Still-life with Telephone, 1934


Portrait of Varia Shitakova, 1935


The Wedding, Film Poster, 1935


The Art of Intrigue, Playbill, 1935


Peter, Film Poster, 1935


Portrait of Lydia Eremina, 1935


New Moscow, 1937


Tania Komarova, 1944


Tyre Tracks, 1944


Railway Station in Autumn, 1945


The Flower Seller, 1944


Still-life with Orange, 1944


Morning, 1946


Drop-curtain design for the opera Pagliacci, 1957


Composition on the theme of the opera Pagliacci, 1968-69


Drop-curtain for the play La dame aux camelias, 1946


The Ball at Olympia's, Scene design for the fourth act of 
La dame aux camelias, 1946


Composition on the theme of the play
La dame aux camelias, 1968-69


Pouring Rain, 1967


Strawberries and Cream, 1956


Waiting, 1959


Paris, Ruse Saint-Dominique, 1958


Venice, The Lonely Flower Seller, 1958


Venice, The Straw Hat Shop, 1958


Venice, Washday, 1958


The Call of the Road, 1959


Cloudburst, 1963


The Argument, 1968


Kaliningrad, Rain, 1968


Lunchtime at the Spa, 1961


Things Old and New, 1967


Washerwomen, 1961


The Beginning of Love, 1960


A Pane of Glass, 1966


"Marusia, lunch time!" 1951-56


Working Clothes, 1967


Between Work and the Theatre, 1960


Roads, 1969


Trendsetters of the New District, 1961


Wedding on Tomorrow's Street, 1962


Epona, Goddess of Horses, 1965-66


Portrait of Tatyana Samoylova in the Role of Anna Karenina, 1966

See also: The Professions -- A Soviet Socialist Realist Art Portfolio for Children

See also: Issues of Contemporary Reality in Soviet Art 1940s-1960s -- A Vintage Portfolio of 16 Works, 1977

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