Lot 119

Konstantin Korovin (1861 - 1939) VICHY OPERA

The Vichy Opera is a representative work from the peak period of the painting of Konstantin Korovin - an artist who is considered the most important figure of Russian Impressionism. He first encountered this new modern style through his professor at the Academy in St. Petersburg, Vasily Polenova. In 1885, he traveled to Spain and France, where he was captivated by the Impressionists there, so that he already fully adopted elements of their style. He exhibited with the Peredvižnici art group. In 1909-1913 he was a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He visited France many times and, in addition to nighttime boulevards, he modeled stylistically relaxed coloristic scenes with a proportion of high traps, which he layered on an already partially dry base and built a full-fledged artistic vision. The restoration research mentioned in the report of Šárka and Petr Berger shows that Korovin visited Vichy several times, as evidenced by his paintings. His visits are dated in 1902, 1911 and 1926. He painted the opera and casino complex itself (Théâtre du Casino) at least once more, as a night scene, and in one painting he captured the entrance to the park grounds.