Free Composition of the Color Mass (1918) by Aleksandr DrevinMOMus - Museum of Modern Art - Costakis Collection
Alexandr Drevin studied painting at the Riga School of Fine Arts. In 1915, in the midst of WWI, the Riga School of Fine Arts was transferred to Petrograd. Drevin moved to Russia and decided to live in Moscow where the Latvian Refugee Assistance Committee gave him a room.
Despite his association in Moscow with the artists of the Russian avant-garde (his wife, painter Nadiezda Udaltsova in 1916 turned to Suprematism and non-objective art) Drevin is –with few exceptions– faithful to figurative painting.
There are very few attempts of non-objectve painting (three such works have been saved in all) and one of these works belongs to MOMus - Costakis Collection and is entitled "Free Composition of Colored Masses".
The work had been presented at the first exhibition of professional painters in 1918 and had received positive reviews.
Female Nude (1930) by Aleksandr DrevinMOMus - Museum of Modern Art - Costakis Collection
On the back of the canvas is the painting "Female Nude", which was created 12 years later, in 1930. This work follows the style of most of Drevin's works:
solitary figures in front of a dystopian, indeterminate landscape
earthy colors, mainly shades of brown, beige and tile
as well as a consciously incorrect perspective.
Drevin was executed by the Stalinist regime in 1938. His memory was restored in 1957.
Maria Tsantsanoglou, art historian, director MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection
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