The singer of lilacs is called this painter, in whose heritage there are more than four dozen paintings and a lot of author's repetitions dedicated to this amazing plant. Konchalovsky’s painting “Lilacs in a Basket”, on which the painted clusters are as good as those depicted in other still lifes - on a wicker chair, on a window, in a wallet and tub on the floor, blends in organically and, so to speak, crowns the cycle of works devoted to this flowers. And not yet cut from the bushes, and placed in various vases and containers, and at any time on a spring day - the lilacs on the canvases of Pyotr Petrovich are always amazingly beautiful.
Canvases giving birth to poetry
To this extraordinary beauty that pours from the paintings of P. Konchalovsky (1876 - 1956), Alexander Kushner dedicated a magnificent verse that must be read in full, because it is as beautiful as flowers on various canvases of the artist, including in the painting “Lilac in the basket ":" Violet, white, lilac, ice, blue, confused, lilacs will appear before your eyes ... "Everything is very exquisite - both poetry and paintings, especially if you look at a retrospective or at least a few" lilac "paintings.
What can be called these flowers that have gone through all the artist’s work? The red line, the work of life, the main theme or symbol of creativity? Probably, the last definition will be most suitable, because of the more than one and a half thousand paintings painted by Pyotr Petrovich at the mention of his name, these flowers stand in front of his eyes, and especially Konchalovsky’s painting “Lilac in a Basket”.
Always a welcome topic
It must be noted that Pyotr Petrovich still has several still lifes with the same name. They depict clusters of different colors (as already mentioned, white, purple, violet), differently selected bouquets, weaving different from each other on baskets. They are all surprisingly good, everything in them is different - shades, floristry, containers, places where bouquets are placed. This is a windowsill, and a table, then covered with something, then naked. Often the artist depicts lilacs on the floor, probably in order to emphasize the abundance of cut branches. A good lilac in the garden (on one canvas it can be seen through the open window).
The most popular canvas
But most often it is precisely Konchalovsky’s painting “Lilac in the Basket” that is mentioned. This is a famous still life painted in 1933. It depicts a basket against a dark wall, and in it are clusters of lilacs. It seems that they are recently cut and still fragrant. And now, albeit in a basket, convey all the beauty of the world. Konchalovsky used in the picture white, lilac, purple, burgundy, blue shades. This multicolor emphasizes the beauty of spring, fills the soul with peace.
Some hear the namesake music of the artist composer Tchaikovsky from Sleeping Beauty (lilac Fairy Waltz). The feeling of peace, joy and painful happiness gives birth to a picture of Konchalovsky "Lilac in a basket." The artist was so connected with these flowers that, at the sight of beautiful clusters, many wanted, like Kushner, to exclaim: "Konchalovsky already visited here, touched his brushes and squinted his eyes ..." But the painter traveled with his father-in-law Surikov to many European countries with a sketchbook and painted a sufficient number of beautiful flowers. But Konchalovsky’s love of lilac is like love of his homeland. Someone associates it with the Russian field, someone has a birch, and he has a lilac.
Fantastic reality image
The Russians are very familiar with this picture, since an essay is written about it at school. “Lilac in a basket” is a very fertile topic, it develops imagination. At first glance, it’s just a floral still life, and a closer look is something you won’t see. Only elastic brushes, go describe. And the color scheme, but the realism of the image! There is a legend that Pyotr Konchalovsky, knowing how the flowers naturally look on his canvases, before the next excursion attached a live branch to the painted bouquet, and no one paid a joke to the attention, it naturally fit into the canvas.
“Neither funny nor sad ...”
“Lilac in a basket” Konchalovsky wrote in 1923, 1933, 1937, 1954. And just a lilac, every kind, every kind, he painted always, every year, until his death.
The artist painted the slightly withered, gentle, calm tones of lilac in 1937. A very good still life - not perky, not jubilant, but not funerary. Even in 1941, Konchalovsky turned to his favorite topic, because, obviously, the lilac is a symbol of life, and maybe even victory. As another poet said: “Lilacs with sorrow cannot be imagined nearby ...” And here again it is appropriate to recall the written “Lilac in a Basket” written in 1933. Konchalovsky said that the image of flowers should not be treated carelessly, "so-so." He argued that the flower has everything that exists in nature, but in a more complex, sophisticated, sophisticated form.
Important details
I would like to note that the painter was also serious about the baskets themselves, like other containers for beautiful cut branches. The baskets in the still lifes are different. In a 1937 work, it is pale yellow, woven from thin branches, with a handle: it seems that they only brought it from the garden and put it in the hallway for a short time. The bouquet of 1933 in a completely different capacity: P. Konchalovsky placed the lilac in a basket in a reliable, strong container corresponding to a powerful, rich bouquet. Her weave is large, the rods are wide - it is reliable, despite the relatively small volume. A dark table, a dark basket, thick shadows cast by a bouquet on the wall - everything emphasizes the beauty of the bouquet, creates three-dimensionality of space, as if bringing the bouquet closer to the viewer. Leaves shimmer with all shades of green and also enhance the bulge of multi-colored clusters.
Of course, O. Mandelstam’s amazing lines do not fit this canvas: “The artist depicted a deep swoon of lilacs for us ...” But they are suitable for other still lifes, because P. Konchalovsky painted any lilac in the basket — triumphant, heroic, and tender, swooning. The bouquet recommended by the school program for writing essays in the 5th grade is indeed a good choice. It evokes a different gamut, but only good and joyful feelings. Works on such topics teach children to be proud of their homeland, its joyful beauty and heroic history. The painting “Lilac in a Basket”, painted in 1933, is 79 x 104 cm in size and is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Own unique style
Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky is called a cezannist. But not only on him the work of the French post-impressionist had a strong influence, and not only under the influence of the Frenchman was our compatriot. Just Paul Cezanne in spirit was close to the early Konchalovsky.
In the works of the beginning of the century, one of the founders of The Jack of Diamonds, the avant-garde player P. Konchalovsky, really felt the influence of the famous author of Pierrot and Harlequin, but in later canvases such as Lilac in the Basket (a photo of the masterpiece is attached), only the ingenious domestic artist with his individual, recognizable style of writing.