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Lot Essay
A Muscovite by birth, Boris Grigoriev spent most of his life abroad. Having conceived one of his major cycles, Raseia, as revolution surged through the country, Grigoriev went on to develop and explore its theme of the Russian peasantry in many other series throughout his artistic career. The artist’s distance from his motherland resulted in a preoccupation with this theme. While he enjoyed significant recognition abroad, his paintings were seen by his contemporaries in the Soviet Union as a grotesque parody of Russian village life. As such, from the 1930s to the 1960s Grigoriev’s works were removed from display in Soviet museums and reproduction of his works banned. It was only in 1989 that Grigoriev’s first solo show took place in Russia and the significance of this artist’s contribution to the development of Russian art was acknowledged.
Grigoriev received his early artistic training at the Stroganov College of Art and Design (1903–1907) followed by the Imperial Academy of Art in St Petersburg, which he attended until his expulsion in 1913. A four-month sojourn in Paris that year proved to be a critical moment; while studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Grigoriev was exposed to the most progressive artistic movements in existence. The following year he undertook further travel abroad, visiting Italy, Switzerland and other countries. These journeys undoubtedly broadened the artist’s horizons and increased his familiarity with Western pictorial language.
In October 1919 Grigoriev and his family left Petrograd, first for Berlin and then for Paris, the undisputed capital of the artistic world, heaving with young ambitious artists longing to break free from the strict regulations of classical art. The Russian artistic diaspora in Paris was diverse, its artists often exploring radically different movements. Grigoriev remained indifferent to the doctrines of the Russian Avant-Garde and chose instead to join Mir Iskusstva [The World of Art] group which had recently reformed in France. Alongside Vasily Shukhaev (1887–1972) and Alexander Iacovleff (1887–1938), Grigoriev was soon regarded as one of the new generation of Mir Iskusstva.
Despite the hardship of his early émigré years in Paris, the 1920s brought Grigoriev international recognition which stretched far beyond Europe to the USA. This success rapidly translated into tremendous commercial prosperity as Grigoriev began to exhibit his paintings frequently; his works were accepted for high-profile exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and the Parisian Salon d’Automne. While in Paris, as a continuation of the Raseya series which had been inspired by the artist’s visits to the villages of the Petrograd and Olonests provinces, Grigoriev began work on his Visages de Russie series. In this series the artist does not concentrate exclusively on a depiction of rural life, rather, his interests also encompass the lives of the cultural milieu in contemporary Russia. From 1922 onwards Grigoriev painted a number of portraits depicting actors from the Moscow Art Theatre touring in Paris, choosing to portray them in character in renowned pre-revolutionary productions. One such canvass is the portrait of an actor, Nikolai Podgorny, also known for his roles in Soviet cinema in the later stage of his career. Grigoriev depicts Podgorny as Peter Trofimov in Chekhov’s 'The Cherry Orchard'. An ‘eternal’ student, Trofimov is shown fully immersed in his philosophical musings on the future of Russia and the new type of people this land could produce if it were only liberated from the tsarist regime. Trofimov offers no practical solutions but is happy to delight his audience with his utopian vision.
Enchanted by Grigoriev’s Visages de Russie series, N. Mogilianskii wrote ‘Boris Grigoriev is a thoughtful, talented artist. It is essential to look at his series Faces of Russia slowly and attentively and if possible to study it even more carefully... Here is a painter of vibrant reality, not only in his themes but also in his technical approach... It is hard to turn away from his faces.’ (quoted in T. Galeeva, Boris Grigoriev, St Petersburg, 2007, p. 123).
Grigoriev received his early artistic training at the Stroganov College of Art and Design (1903–1907) followed by the Imperial Academy of Art in St Petersburg, which he attended until his expulsion in 1913. A four-month sojourn in Paris that year proved to be a critical moment; while studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Grigoriev was exposed to the most progressive artistic movements in existence. The following year he undertook further travel abroad, visiting Italy, Switzerland and other countries. These journeys undoubtedly broadened the artist’s horizons and increased his familiarity with Western pictorial language.
In October 1919 Grigoriev and his family left Petrograd, first for Berlin and then for Paris, the undisputed capital of the artistic world, heaving with young ambitious artists longing to break free from the strict regulations of classical art. The Russian artistic diaspora in Paris was diverse, its artists often exploring radically different movements. Grigoriev remained indifferent to the doctrines of the Russian Avant-Garde and chose instead to join Mir Iskusstva [The World of Art] group which had recently reformed in France. Alongside Vasily Shukhaev (1887–1972) and Alexander Iacovleff (1887–1938), Grigoriev was soon regarded as one of the new generation of Mir Iskusstva.
Despite the hardship of his early émigré years in Paris, the 1920s brought Grigoriev international recognition which stretched far beyond Europe to the USA. This success rapidly translated into tremendous commercial prosperity as Grigoriev began to exhibit his paintings frequently; his works were accepted for high-profile exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and the Parisian Salon d’Automne. While in Paris, as a continuation of the Raseya series which had been inspired by the artist’s visits to the villages of the Petrograd and Olonests provinces, Grigoriev began work on his Visages de Russie series. In this series the artist does not concentrate exclusively on a depiction of rural life, rather, his interests also encompass the lives of the cultural milieu in contemporary Russia. From 1922 onwards Grigoriev painted a number of portraits depicting actors from the Moscow Art Theatre touring in Paris, choosing to portray them in character in renowned pre-revolutionary productions. One such canvass is the portrait of an actor, Nikolai Podgorny, also known for his roles in Soviet cinema in the later stage of his career. Grigoriev depicts Podgorny as Peter Trofimov in Chekhov’s 'The Cherry Orchard'. An ‘eternal’ student, Trofimov is shown fully immersed in his philosophical musings on the future of Russia and the new type of people this land could produce if it were only liberated from the tsarist regime. Trofimov offers no practical solutions but is happy to delight his audience with his utopian vision.
Enchanted by Grigoriev’s Visages de Russie series, N. Mogilianskii wrote ‘Boris Grigoriev is a thoughtful, talented artist. It is essential to look at his series Faces of Russia slowly and attentively and if possible to study it even more carefully... Here is a painter of vibrant reality, not only in his themes but also in his technical approach... It is hard to turn away from his faces.’ (quoted in T. Galeeva, Boris Grigoriev, St Petersburg, 2007, p. 123).