Born 1870, Saratov – died 1905, Tarussa.
Painter
Agave. 1897.
Oil on canvas, 70.6x81 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery,
Moscow.
A Girl in the
Sunlight. 1897. Study.
Oil on canvas, 48x60 cm. The Museum of Russian
Art, Kiev.
Portrait of the Artist with his Sister.
1898.
Oil on canvas, 143x177 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Spring. 1898-1901.
Tempera on canvas, 68.5x96 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Autumn motif. 1899.
Oil and tempera on canvas, 143.5x98.5 cm. Saratov
Art Museum.
Harmony. 1899-1900.
Tempera on canvas, 66x48.5 cm. Private
collection, Moscow.
Two Ladies. 1899-1900.
Study.
Oil on canvas, 67x58.5 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Silence (Indoors). 1900.
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 45x58 cm. The
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Young Girl on the Balcony. 1900(?)
Tempera on canvas, 77x50 cm. Saratov Art Museum.
Autumn Mood. 1901.
Oil on canvas, 143.5x102 cm. The Museum of
Russian Art, Kiev.
Tapestry. 1901.
Tempera on canvas, 103x141.2 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
A Sitting Boy. 1901.
Oil on canvas, 60x48 cm. The Museum of Russian
Art, Kiev.
Daphnis and Chloe. 1901.
Oil on canvas, 56.5x63.5 cm. Private
collection, St.Petersburg.
Cherry Trees in Bloom. 1901. Study.
Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard, 44x44 cm.
Private collection, Moscow.
A Lady at
Needlepoint. 1901.
Oil on canvas, 68.5x58. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
The Last Ray of the Setting Sun. 1901.
Charcoal and watercolor on paper, 63.1x47.2
cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
A Walk. 1901.
Tempera on cardboard, 47.5x61 cm. Odessa Art
Museum.
Woman in Blue. 1901-1903.
Tempera and gouache, 60x43 cm. The Picture Gallery
of Armenia, Yerevan.
A Lady Sitting in
an Armchair. 1901-1903.
Pastel on paper, 57x43 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Roses and Catkins. 1901-1903.
Tempera and watercolor on paper, 37x29 cm. Saratov
Art Museum.
Still Life with Flowers. 1902.
Oil on canvas, 37x45.5 cm. The Picture Gallery of
Armenia, Yerevan.
Still Life. 1902.
Oil on canvas, 37x45.5 cm. Private collection.
Portrait of a Lady. 1902.
Gouache, watercolor and pastel on paper, 61.3x45.6
cm. Private collection, Moscow.
Lady in Blue.1902.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 81x61 cm. The
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Portrait of Elena Alexandrova. 1902.
Watercolor on paper, 62x35.9 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
A Tree. Study.
Oil on canvas, 63,5x50.5 cm. Saratov Art
Museum.
The Pool. 1902.
Tempera on canvas, 103x141.2 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Phantoms. 1903.
Tempera on canvas, 117x144.5 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Walk at Sunset. 1903.
Tempera on canvas, 53.5x104 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
The Manor at Zubrilovka. 1903.
Tempera on canvas, 50.9x42 cm. Saratov Art
Museum.
Lady Seated against a Tapestry. 1903. (Portrait
of Nadezhda Staniukovich, born Ryzhkova).
Pastel on paper, 57x43 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Bluebells. 1903. Study.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 19x13 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Portrait of Nadezhda Staniukovich. Study.
1903.
Oil on canvas, 90x63.4 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery,
Moscow.
Three Ladies on the
Terrace. 1903.
Tempera on canvas, 67.5x80 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
In the Park. 1903-1904.
Oil on canvas, 48x60 cm. Art Museum of
Belorussia, Minsk.
Lady in a Garden. 1903-1904.
Oil on canvas, 40x50.5 cm. Astrakhan Picture
Gallery.
A Garden Path (Alley). Near 1904.
Pastel on paper, 57x41 cm. The Picture Gallery of
Armenia, Yerevan.
A Walk in the Park. 1904.
Pastel on paper, 58x41 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
A Young Girl
Wearing a Necklace. Study. 1904.
Oil and tempera on canvas, 66x48.5 cm. Private
collection, Moscow.
The Manor in
Vvedenskoye. 1904. Sketch.
Watercolor on paper, 13.8x20.4 cm. The Russian
Museum, St.Petersburg.
Reflections of Sunset. 1904.
Tempera on canvas, 79x87 cm. Nizhny Novgorod Art
Museum.
A Woman Wearing a Yellow Shawl. 1904.
(Elena Elpidiforovna Borisova-Musatova, the Artist's
sister, a study for the painting " The Emerald Necklace").
Tempera on canvas, 62.4x45.8 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
The Emerald Necklace. 1904.
Oil and tempera on canvas, 125x214.3 cm. The
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
In the Shade of the Pine (Memorial). 1904.
Charcoal, pastel and gouache on paper, 55.7x40.7
cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Portrait of a Lady
in Blue. Study. 1904-1905.
Watercolor and whitening on paper, 63.1x47.2
cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Self-Portrait. 1904-1905.
Pressed charcoal on paper, 62.2x45.5 cm. The
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Slumber Divine. 1904-1905. Sketch for a
fresco from the series "Seasons" (not executed).
Watercolor, brush and pen on paper, 39.8x96.8
cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Spring Tale. 1904-1905. Sketch for a
fresco from the series "Seasons" (not executed).
Watercolor, pencil, brush and pen on paper,
40.3x96.7 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Summer Melody. 1904-1905. Sketch
for a fresco from the series "Seasons".
Watercolor and Indian ink on paper, 38x81cm. Private
collection, Moscow.
Autumn Evening. 1904-1905. Sketch for
panel.
Watercolor and pencil on paper, 35.7x 94.9 cm. The
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Hazelnut Bush. 1905.
Pastel on paper, 74x60 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Autumn Song. 1905.
Pastel on paper, 45x63 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
On the Balcony. Tarussa. 1905.
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 52.2x62.5
cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Requiem. 1905.
Watercolor, black pencil, sanguine on paper mounted
on cardboard, 52.7x76 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Garlands of Corn Flowers. Study. 1905.
Oil on canvas, 52.5x73 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Borisov-Musatov was the leading inspiration of the Blue Rose artists and the forerunner of Russian Symbolism. The artist aspired to realize through his paintings an idyllic dream of happiness, and his lyrical romantic compositions are full of peace and harmony. Unlike the artists of the World of Art group, Musatov's depicting of times past was not historically correct, his ladies and cavaliers wearing beautiful antique clothes were simple lovely, idyllic, in absolute contrast to reality. The new tendency of Borisov-Musatov's creation is in the symbolic style and the relation of painting to music. The names of his works are no accident: "Harmony", "Eulogy", "Autumn Song"... The artist lived in past, but his system of painting was the art of the future, inspired by many remarkable Russian artists such as P.Kuznetzov, K.Petrov-Vodkin, N.Krymov and others.
Victor Elpidiforivich Musatov was born in a family of a railroad worker in 1870.
He has studied at the MUZhVZ (Moscow School of Painting and Architecture), under Konovalov, in Saratov (1890-1901 and 1893-1895), then at the Academy of Arts and at the private studio of P.Tchistiakov (St. Petersburg, 1891-1893). In the Academy he has taken the name Borisov-Musatov). He has studied at the studio of F.Cormon, Paris (1895-1908), as well, and was influenced by the work of Puvis de Chavannes.
The artist has raveled to Caucasus and Crimea (1895), Paris, Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden (1904).
From 1893 he participated in exhibitions, including MUZhVZ and MTKh (Moscow Fellowship of Artists).
He was a member of MTKh (Moscow Society of Artists) from 1899, and SRKh.
Borisov-Musatov lived in Saratov (until 1903), then in Podolsk and in Tarusa.
The artist died in 1905, only 35 years old.
His works were exhibited at a one-man show in Germany and France (1904-1905), and post-mortem one-man shows in Moscow in 1907 and 1917.