Still-life in the creative work of Nikolay Sapunov

Abstract

Nikolay Nikolaevich Sapunov (1880–1912) is one of the most remarkable figures in Russian art of the beginning of the 20th century, although for a number of reasons it is still insufficiently studied and known. A great painter, a subtle poet of color, he began with paintings, close in nature to the works of artists «The world of art», and then he became interested in theatrical and decorative painting, became closer to the Directors of those years, and, above all, with V.E. Meyerhold (1874–1940), and F.F. Komissarzhevsky (1882–1954), became an excellent designer of many of their performances. N.N. Sapunov's name brought the scenery to the play «Balaganchik» by A.A. Blok (1906), and his execution of M.A. Kuzmin's plays «Fixed eccentric» (1910–1911) and «Dutchwoman Lisa» (1910–1911). The of N.N. Sapunov's work on the sets for «Turandot» (1911–1912) was interrupted by his tragic death. Delicate taste and coloristic gift showed N.N. Sapunov in his still-lifes («Rhododendrons», «Blue hydrangeas», etc.). Paintings such as «Tea drinking» (1912), give the representation of N.N. Sapunov as a master of the grotesque.