Monumental Painting by Sergei Romanovich: Former and Unfulfilled

Abstract

The article is devoted to an important period in the life and work of the Moscow artist Sergei Romanovich (1894–1968), one of the most interesting young artists of the Russian pictorial avant-garde of the second half of the 1910s, a student and later friend of Mikhail Larionov. From the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, Romanovich was an employee of the Workshop of Monumental Painting at the Academy of Architecture of the USSR. Together with Lev Bruni and Vladimir Favorsky, he worked on the decoration of the Red Army Theater, participated in the development of projects and interior design of theater and exhibition spaces, new public buildings in Moscow and other cities of the country. Romanovich turned to monumental art largely forced, unable to seriously engage in easel painting and exhibit his work in the 1930s. The author of the article analyzed the main works performed by Romanovich in the field of monumental art. Special attention is paid to Romanovich’s interest in painting by outstanding masters of the Renaissance and modern times, which had a certain influence on his monumental works: among the most important artists are Raphael, Michelangelo, and Delacroix. The article also reveals the connections and mutual influences between the easel work and the monumental painting of Romanovich. In his work, there was also a “counter” influence: the artist’s interest in outstanding monuments of monumental art of the past influenced his search in the field of painting. The author demonstrates this influence by referring to an analysis of several famous works by Romanovich in the late 1940s. The most important place in the artist’s heritage is occupied by religious painting. In the conditions of the USSR of the 1940s–1950s, Romanovich could not depict and fulfill his talent as a muralist in religious art.

Keywords:

Lev Bruni, Mikhail Larionov, Sergei Romanovich, Vladimir Favorsky, architecture, painting, monumental art in the USSR