Konstantin Gorbatov, Winter Landscape, 1922 or before

Signed in Cyrillic (pre-1918 orthography) at lower right

23 1/4 x 18 1/16 in. (59 x 46 cm) (visible)

Inv. no. ab_10568

Painter Konstantin Ivanovich Gorbatov (1876–1945) had originally intended to become an architect. After studying at the Central School of Technical Drawing of Baron A. L. Stieglitz (or Shtiglits), he enrolled in the Department of Architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts. He soon transferred to the studio of landscape artist Nikolai Dubovskoy (1859–1918) who was known for unusually luminous works said to describe a “landscape of mood.” His attention to the dramatic possibilities of light can be detected in many of his student’s works, including this winter landscape.

In 1911, Gorbatov was awarded a gold medal at the Munich International Exposition. It included sufficient funds for him to travel through southern Europe, and he was invited by Maxim Gorky to spend time with the colony of Russian writers and artists resident there. Gorbatov returned to Russia, remaining there throughout the Revolution and until he emigrated in 1922. After a trip to revisit Italy, he settled in Berlin where he found a welcoming Russian émigré community that included the painters Leonid Pasternak and Ivan Myasoedov. His brilliantly lit landscapes and views of Ancient Rus' were enormously successful and provided him with a secure life until the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s. As a former Russian citizen, Gorbatov and his family were forbidden to leave Germany after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Unable to sell his work, he was quickly reduced to poverty. He survived until May 12, 1945, just after the Allied victory over Germany.