Mikhail Konov

Mikhail Konov

Clouds, 2002 | 7 x 9 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Corner of the Lake, 2003 | 7 x 9 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Dusk on the Lake, 1990 | 26 x 42 "

 

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Evening Fog, 2002 | 6 x 8 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Fall in the Country, 1997 | 20 x 27 "

 

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Golden Evening, 2003 | 6 x 8 "

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Lilacs (framed), 1999 | 70 x 74 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Mountain Haze, 2002 | 6 x 8 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Purple Sunset, 1982 | 29 x 48 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Red Sky, 1987 | 14 x 26

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Rivers Edge, 1999 | 20 x 27 "

 

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Summer Dacha, 1972 | 20 x 31 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Summer Fields, 1972 | 20 x 31 "

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

The Road in Spring, 1963 | 28 x 20

 

 

 

 

Mikhail Konov

Toward Evening, 2003 | 6 x 8 "

 

 

 

 

 

Konov’s luminous choice of colors and elegant compositions allow the viewer to see the world through the painter’s eyes.

This outstanding painter belongs to the generation of artists who although following a realistic tradition in art was in search of innovations and developed their own trends in art.

Every summer he travels to his beloved dacha in the Novgorod region of Russia to work in the open air. There he brings more than half a century of talent and extraordinary technique to his paintings. Paintings which draw the viewer into their depths. Konov’s works are exhibited in the Tretyakov State Art Gallery, State Russian Museum, and the Art Museums of Novgorod and Novokuznetsk. His paintings are also represented in several national and international private collections.

Mikhail Konov was born in the village of Byvalki in the Smolensk region of Russia. By the age of eighteen he began studies at the Irkutsk Regional Art School, continuing there until he was 23. It was very early on when his extraordinary talent was recognized and his diploma work “At the Village Forge” received the highest award. From 1952 through 1958 Konov continued his art studies, then at the famed Repin Institute in St. Petersburg, considered one of the finest art education centers in the world. The Repin regularly turns out highly skilled and finely tuned artists who must undergo six difficult years of classical training before they graduate.

In the next decade of his career, 1960’s, Konov was honored often for his painting, particularly those in the academic and landscape styles. He entered the postgraduate course at the Repin Institute in 1963, graduating in 1966. Following his graduation, he became a noted instructor at the Repin Institute teaching academic drawing.

But, it was during 1965, while still occupied with postgraduatework, when Konov turned his attention entirely to landscapes while painting at the Academic Dacha alongside Nikolai Timkov. His quest for immediacy and inspiration brought him great respect from his colleagues, and he was considered a consummate landscape painter. Konov painted countryside scenes and floral compositions filled with dynamics and the labor process shown point-blank. The power of his work holds the viewer in thrall of the mobility and liveliness of the tense emotional mood of the artist.

A high point in the recognition of his figurative style came between 1970 and 1972 with the creation of a portrait series commissioned by the government. The expressiveness of the portraits grew from combination of academic drawing technique and Konov’s strong and confident contact with a model.

Throughout the 1970’s, Konov’s paintings continued to acquire deeper psychological insight and his floral and landscape paintings of that period were created with a new bold stroke technique.