Konstantin Somov

Note: In order to facilitate the viewing of this artist's page, and still bring to you the full rich scope of his work, we have divided this page into two. The links will bring you naturally to all you wish to view.

Paintings:

Self-portrait. 1898.
Watercolor, whitening, lead pencil and pastel on paper mounted on cardboard. 46x32.6 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

Lady in Blue. 1897-1900. (Portrait of the Artist E.Martynova).
Oil on canvas, 103x103 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Portrait of the Artist Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva. 1901.
Oil on canvas, 87x63 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

Evening. 1900-1902.
Oil on canvas, 142.3x205.3 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

L'echo du Temp Passée (Echo of a Time Past). 1902.
Watercolor, gouache, lead pencil on paper mounted on cardboard, 61x64 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Paintings Porcelain Figurines
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Sitting Woman in a Blue Dress. 1903.
Watercolor, gouache on paper, 19.8x14.5 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Courtesans. 1903.
Watercolor, gouache, pastel on paper, 46.5x61.5 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Fireworks. 1904.
Gouache on paper, 32x36 cm. E.Gunst collection, Moscow.

A Sleeping Woman. 1909.
Watercolor and gouache on paper mounted on fabric, 30.2x41.5 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

A Couple in Love. 1910.
Oil on canvas, 35.4x44.5 cm. Yerevan Picture Gallery, Armenia.

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Pierro and Lady. 1910.
Gouache on paper, 46x35 cm. Picture Gallery, Odessa, Ukraine.

Harlequin and a Lady. 1912.
Watercolor and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard, 67.2x47.5 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Portrait of E.Oliv. 1914.
Oil on canvas, 106.5x89.6 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Italian Comedy. 1914.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 17x26.5 cm. T.Geltzer collection, Moscow.

Colombine's Tongue. 1915.
Watercolor and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard. 29.2xx22.5 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

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Winter. The Skating Rink. 1915.
Oil on canvas, 49x58 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

Landscape with a Rainbow. 1915.
Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard, 22.4x27.3. Valk collection, St.Petersburg.

First Love (On a Full Moon). 1916.
Gouache on paper mounted on cardboard, 28.8x24.2 cm. The Brodsky Memorial Museum, St.Petersburg.

Portrait of N.Vysotzkaya. 1917.
Oil on canvas, 72.5x55 cm. Yerevan Picture Gallery, Armenia.

Women in the Park. 1919.
Oil on canvas, 58.2x71.5. Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum.

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Summer Morning. 1920.
Oil on canvas, 62x47.5 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

Fireworks. 1922.
Oil on canvas, 27x31.5 cm. The Brodsky Memorial Museum, St.Petersburg.

Portrait of the Composer Sergei Rakhmaninov. 1925.
Oil on canvas, 63,7x51,6 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

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Porcelain Figurines:

A Couple in Love. 1905.
Porcelain, 14.3x20.6,z12.5 cm. E.Gunst collection, Moscow.

A Lady Taking off Her Mask. 1906.
Porcelain, 22.5x15.8x12.9 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

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Illustrations and Graphic Work:

Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists. Poster for the first exhibition of "The World of Art" group. 1989.

A Kiss. 1904. Head piece for journal "Jugend".
Watercolor, bronze on paper, 11,5x17 cm. The T.Geltzer collection, Moscow.

A Lady with a Little Dog. 1906. Head piece for journal "Zolotoye runo" (The Golden Fleece), 1906, N 2.
Silhouette.

A Kiss. 1906. Head piece for journal "Zolotoye runo" (The Golden Fleece), 1906, N 2.
Silhouette.

Portrait of the Poet Vyacheslav Ivanov. 1906.
Watercolor, gouache, whitening, lead and color pencil on paper, 42.4x26.6 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

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Sketch of Title-Page for the Magazine "Theatre". 1907. (Publishing-house "Shipovnik", St.Petersburg, 1907)
Watercolor, brush and pen, Indian ink, whitening on paper, 27,8x19 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Cor Ardens. 1907. Frontispiece for the poetry book by Viacheslav Ivanov. (Publishing-house "Scorpion", Moscow, 1911)
Watercolor, gouache, ink, brush and pen on paper, 28x20.2 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Harlequin and Death. 1907.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 17x12 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

The Firebird. 1907. Sketch of cover for the poetry book by Konstantin Balmont. (Publishing-house "Scorpion", Moscow, 1907).
Watercolor, gouache, gold on paper mounted on cardboard, 21x17 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

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Portrait of the Poet Alexandr Blok. 1907.
Gouache, lead and color pencils on paper. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Portrait of the Poet Mikhail Kuzmin. 1909.
Watercolor, whitening, lead and color pencils on paper, 21x17 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Portrait of the Artist Mikhail Dobuzhinsky. 1910.
Sanguine, lead pencil on paper, 44.5x31 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Portrait of the Writer Fiodor Sologub. 1910.
Made for collected works of F.Sologub (Publishing-house "Shipovnik", St.Petersburg, 1909-1912).
Sanguine, charcoal on paper, 33.5x20 cm. Museum of Russian Literature Institute (Pushkin's House), St.Petersburg.

Portrait of Baroness A.Nolde. 1911.
Lead and color pencils on paper, 54.3x42.6 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

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In the Theatre. 1918. Illustration for the book "Le livre de la marquise" (Publishing-house "Golike and Wilborg", St.Petersburg, 1918).
Watercolor and ink on paper.

Magic. 1902.
Watercolor, gouache and gold on paper. 49.5xx34.1 cm. The Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.

Paintings Porcelain Figurines
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Biography:

Konstantin Somov has studied at the High Art School at the Academy of Arts, St.Petersburg (from 1894) under I.Repin, and at the Academy of V.Colarossi in Paris (1897-1899).

He was a member, as well as organizer and participant of exhibitions of the “World of Art” group from 1899, and SRKh (Union of Russian Artists), in 1903-1910.

He was awarded the rank of Academician of the Academy of Arts in 1913.

The artist has taught at the faculty of painting PGSKhUM (Petrograd State Free Art Educational Workshops).

Somov worked in the styles of Modern and Symbolism, used stylization of Rococo methods and themes. His gallant and erotic marionettes play out their scenes, but the artist does not only admire them, he always conveys an ironic message. Although his subjects are highly entertaining, a certain tragic sensation is present. The artist returns time and again to the theme of death, the frailty of life. In his portraits he combined the gala-chamber XVIII century style with precise psychological characteristics of his models. He created a gallery of brilliant realistic portraits of the artists and symbolist writers of that time. Somov successfully worked in the genre of small porcelain figurines, painting them himself. In addition, he created many graceful and elegant covers, vignettes, head-pieces, silhouettes and illustrations for books and journals.

From 1923 the artist lived in USA, and in 1925 he moved to Paris.

Paintings Porcelain Figurines
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