Still life

The year 1916 marks a critical point in the development of Natalia Goncharova’s oeuvre. It was then that she travelled together with her partner Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964) to Spain at the invitation of Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) to work on several productions for the Ballets Russes. In addition to the repertoire of Russian-themed ballets that the team had prepared for the Spanish public, the environment engendered productions that were directly influenced by Spanish culture. Diaghilev engaged Pablo Picasso to work on the designs for Le Tricorne, a ballet based on an Andalusian folk tale and set to music by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). Natalia Goncharova produced designs for two productions; Triana, set to music by Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), and Espagna, set to Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1937) Rhapsodie Espagnole. Although both of these productions were never realised, the stylistic innovations Goncharova introduced with these designs would become an integral part of her work from that point forward. Having been exposed to various aspects of Spanish culture during her time spent on the Iberian peninsula, Goncharova appropriated certain themes that deeply impressed her, such as the mantilla, the traje de flamenco as well as certain floral motifs--magnolias in particular, and incorporated that imagery into her compositions, rendered through her unique cubist constructions. These images were so potent in the Goncharova’s visual lexicon that she would implement them repeatedly in her work throughout much of her career. This would include important commissioned projects, such as the mural Spanish women created for Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951) in 1922, various ballet productions such as Bolero, set to music by Ravel and directed by Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972) in 1932, and Goyescas, which premiered in 1940, as well as many works produced over several decades.
The present work is an exquisite example of a still life that is reminiscent of Goncharova's encounters with Spain. This is highlighted especially by the detailed white lace and the fine blossoms, which are masterfully structured within a cubist composition of balanced intersecting and adjacent planes. Set against a window overlooking architectural forms and varying blossoming patterns is an elaborate vase of flowers that is striking in its dichotomy; simultaneously baroque and constructivist in its form. Goncharova uses colour sparingly here; limiting her palette to variegated blues and black, muted yellow, white and grey. Nearly a grisaille, the three-dimensional quality of the composition is therefore strengthened; resulting in an exceptionally powerful image. Raymond Cogniat (1896-1977), the renowned art historian and friend of Goncharova, who owned an equally striking still life titled Magnolias (sold Christie's 25 November 2013 for £218,500) summarised this synthesis aptly; 'simultaneously sombre and sumptuous, exuberant and discrete, their play of severe linearity dissecting the image into a sequence of variegated planes of sober grey, white, brown and yellow, established through austerity, a rare rich decorativeness that truly reflected Spain as seen through a dazzling Russian vision' (R. Cogniat, quoted in exhibition catalogue, Nathalie Gontcharova, Michel Larionov, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1995, p. 112).