Portrait of a Boy in a Patterned Shirt
1909
- Period Late 19th century – Early 20th century
- CategoryPortrait
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The nature of Ilya Mashkov’s painterly talent — its elemental creative sweep, energy, temperament and exaggerated sensuality towards life — distinguished the artist from his fellow members of the Jack of Diamonds. Such early paintings as Portrait of a Boy in a Painted Shirt reflect the various influences on Mashkov’s oeuvre — his interest in modern French painting, particularly Fauvism; his profound and genuine affinity for folk creativity and adherence to the «tray» style, incarnated in both the background of the painting and the highly-coloured structure in general; and urban artistic folklore — signboards and fairground photography, reflected in the positioning of the model and the subject’s deliberately serious and attentive glance, fastened directly on the viewer. Russian Museum: From Icons to the Modern Times. Palace Editions, St Petersburg, 2015. P. 287.