The Sins of Youth

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Murashko (1875-1919) came to the French capital for new experiences, new impressions, and “renewal of artistic blood.”

In spring 1902, young Murashko settled on Rue Boissonade in Paris’s 14th arrondissement, a street popular with artists. Here in different years lived Ukrainian creatives like poet and artist Maximilian Voloshyn and avant-garde painter Oleksandra Exter. 

After a trip to the Russian Empire in 1903, the artist returned to Paris and rented a studio at 70 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. The name of the quarter and the street are associated with the church of the same name, built here in 1867-1876 in the strict Romanesque style.

He worked quite well in the artistic capital, but he called some of the works written in Paris “sins of youth.” What exactly Murashko put into these words remains a mystery, as do the details of his Parisian life.

Image - Giovanni Boldini “Party at the Moulin Rouge”

Murashko's paintings of that period often depict "ladies of the half-world"—ironic portrayals of demi-mondaines, morally corrupt women from outside the aristocracy who mimicked its lifestyle and manners.

The triptych is distinguished by a more artistic brushstroke, an enrichment of the palette and a finer nuance of colors, a freer use of the so-called fragmentary composition, characteristic of impressionist painting.

"Parisian Women in a Café"

Although all three paintings take place on the street, Murashko offers a new take on the plot each time—adding secondary figures like waiters or a man at a table, as well as background interior or landscape elements that enrich the composition.

"Parisian Cafe"

We see different characters of these women, different manner of behavior, different clothes - from modest to luxurious. Murashko does not condemn anyone and does not sympathize with anyone. He only recreates a typical situation that attracts him as an artist.

"Parisian Women"

“Café” now belongs to the Odesa National Art Museum. Murashko deliberately limits the number of characters depicted, bringing his two heroines closer to the front edge of the canvas and separating them from the other characters.

There’s a play of gazes, but the red-haired woman's look stands out—watchful, appraising, almost predatory. She seems to have spotted her "victim" and is ready to point him out to her more elegant and beautiful companion.

It is not for nothing that the author dresses her in a bright red cape, because this allows him to place the main semantic emphasis of the picture, to add emotional tension to it.

This tension comes from the black accent and the composition of two opposing triangles: one formed by the women leaning in and the main figure’s clothes, the other by the group of men in the opposite corner.

This part of the composition is balanced by the illuminated window and the sun's reflection on the floor, which, together with the lady's light shoes, play the role of additional color accents and at the same time outline a diagonal, adding internal dynamics to the picture.

Painting by Oleksandr Murashko "Cafe" ("Cocottes in a Cafe"). Postcard from the early 20th century. Collection of Daria Dobriian.

Also, this conflict of black and red becomes less acute due to the semi-transparency of the fabric on the chest and sleeves.

It was the works of the Parisian period that became a bridge to the mature works that brought the artist worldwide recognition. It is worth treating the “sins of youth” as a valuable experience gained by him in the very heart of Paris and creatively transformed on national soil.