In the work of the Russian painter Robert Falk, both domestic modernism and the avant-garde organically united. The master passed a difficult path to recognition, having gained worldwide fame as a Yiddish Jewish theater artist.
The fate of Robert Rafailovich Falk was not broken by the difficult time period of the revolution. In many ways, his life was influenced by the Spartan upbringing that reigned in the painter's family.
Way to Vocation
The biography of the future artist began in 1886. The child was born on October 15 (27) in Moscow in the family of the famous metropolitan lawyer. Parents gave three sons excellent knowledge of the German language. Children studied at the Peter-Paul-shule, the real capital school that became famous for strict orders.
The boy showed early ability to music. Adults developed them in every possible way, disapproving of the talent of the draftsman. His family was considered a frivolous hobby. However, the child chose not music, but fine art. Robert began to paint in oil from 1903. He firmly decided to become a painter after studying at a studio school with Yuon and Dudich in 1904-1905.
The choice was disapproving, but the parents could not dissuade the son. The young man became a student in the capital's school of painting, architecture and sculpture. He received education from Konstantin Korovin and Valentin Serov. Thanks to them, the basis of the artist’s creativity was formed. In his early works, Falk was a play of light and color, in which form seemed to dissolve. The cubic canvases of the early master are inherent in tenderness. He is called the most lyrical of the cubists and the youngest avant-garde.
After completing the course, the artist became a member of the Jack of Diamonds association. At this time, he became interested in neo-primitivism. A vivid work was his landscapes with a bridge and a sail. The canvases of the 1910s show a fascination with subject lyricism, a passion for color. The whole geometry of cones, pyramids and cubes is permeated with softness and stunning lyricism.
Formation time
For the funds received from the sale of the first painting, the painter went to Italy. He criticized the radical directions of the avant-garde, choosing for himself the analytical stage of cubism. The images of the painter are striking in the volume of form and color saturation of angular spots, realism, laconicism. Each object depicted on the canvas is tangible. The master uses cubist techniques to convey the lyrical state of the hero, and not to implement the manner of writing.
Since 1913, the master’s fascination with the work of Cezanne began. The penetration depth, plasticity and sense of rhythm in Crimean landscapes are especially noticeable. He painted portraits, and interiors, and still lifes. His best works include the painting "Red Furniture" with a bewitching expression of color, the intensity of anxious expectations.
Significant changes in the artist's plans were made by the revolutionary events of 1917. His paintings of that period are characterized by hidden drama and gloom. From 1918 to 1921, Robert Rafailovich worked in the capital's collegium for the affairs of the art industry and art. The protest against the aesthetics of the master was expressed in the maximum appeal to simplicity. Robert Rafailovich taught in free art workshops and was one of their organizers. Then he took the post of dean in them and won recognition as a theater artist. Since the twenties, interest in cubism has gradually disappeared; instead, interest in the color component has come.
Family and creativity
In 1909, the wife of the painter was a fellow student at the school Elizabeth Potekhin. She became the heroine of the picture "Lisa in the sun." It has a proprietary psychology of portraits of the master. With his work, Falk first declared himself as a distinctive painter.
In marriage, the only son of the artist Valery was born. He chose the career of a graphic etcher. The union of his parents broke up in 1920.
The new darling of Falk was Kira Alekseeva, daughter of Konstantin Stanislavsky. A child appeared in the family, the daughter of Cyril. She became a translator of Russian poetry into French, was engaged in teaching activities. Her son, the grandson of the artist Konstantin Baranovsky, chose a career as a historian.
The third wife of Robert Rafailovich is the poetess and artist Raisa Idelson. With her, Falk went to Paris in 1928 to study the classical heritage. The “Paris Decade” turned into the most fruitful period in the work of the painter.
He received not only new impressions and state of mind, but also mastered the airy watercolor technique, characterized by unusual subtlety. The manner received particular lightness and airiness.
Robert Rafailovich could not join the French cheerful and noisy bohemia. Therefore, his paintings convey loneliness and longing. Paris appeared in the works of Falk as a gray and gloomy city, depicted with a feeling of sadness and light melancholy. After breaking up with his wife and returning to his homeland, the painter met art critic Angelina Shchekin-Krotova, his companion until the last days.
