Thirsting Warrior
1915
This Symbolist painting was inspired by the events of the First World War. Monumental and decorative, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin’s canvas manages to combine elements of Neoclassicism, traditional icon-painting and early-twentiethcentury modernism. As in the artist’s other works of this period, this picture develops the master’s «triochrome» principle. Petrov-Vodkin adheres to three main colours, linking the picture to Old Russian icons. The tense and contrasting colour combinations add a sense of dynamism to the depicted scene. The artist harmoniously combines such opposite features as the static and dynamic, flat and volume, sharp tones and austere plastics, to create a wellintegrated painting. Russian Museum: From Icons to the Modern Times. Palace Editions, St Petersburg, 2015. P. 282.
This composition was one of the last occasions when Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin turned to a clearly designated symbolic allegorical and mythological source. The decorative tones are based on the artist’s own “trichrome” principle and the unique “set” form of his figures. A warrior bends over a spring, while nymphs or bathers flee in fright.