Ilya Mashkov (1881–1944)

Mashkov I. Lady with Pheasants. 1911

Ilya Mashkov was one of the leading members of the Jack of Diamonds. Like his colleagues, he experienced a period of interest in Russian folk art — traditional prints (lubok), fairground shows and the signboards outside provincial workshops and vegetable stalls. Everything in this unusual work scorns the traditions of the psychological portrait. Highlighting and deliberately hyperbolising the sitter’s garish features, the artist creates a generalized image similar to the types of beauties encountered in traditional urban prints. The subject has a sumptuous body, ruddy cheeks, dyed eyebrows and wears an elegant dress with enormous roses. A sable stole hangs from the back of the chair. The interior adds to the general characteristics. The stuffed bird conjures up associations with the salons of the fairground photographers.

The humour, bright tones and Neo-Primitive forms also incarnate the carnival element of folk art. The portrait has a generalized title; the sitter was in fact F. Y. Hesse, sister of the poet S. Y. Rubanovich, a friend of the artist who spoke at the Jack of Diamonds debates.

Mashkov I. Breads. Still-Life. 1912

Ilya Mashkov was a leading member of the Jack of Diamonds, a group of artists who attempted an original fusion of the devices of Paul Cйzanne and the traditions of Russian folklore. Breads is one of Mashkov’s most famous paintings.

Inspired by the provincial signboard, with its exaggerated and immobile “objectivity” conveying the sensation of wealth and repleteness,the artist was drawn to the physical forms of the loaves stacked up in objective piles. Transforming this life motif, Mashkov plays up the endless diversity and tones of the different kinds of breads and buns. As one art critic noted, despite the feast of different textures and forms, Mashkov’s still-life still smells more of turps, paints and varnish than icing.