March 4th, 2010
Russian and Soviet Art: Levitan and Pimenov
Tags/ Posted by Stephen PainNoon. A dry martini at the beach bar, a man swizzles his ‘stache. Bond. Jaime Bond, he says. I’m stalled out by the pool watching birds shit on lounge chairs.continue reading this poem
Like the term “erotic fatigue,” there is probably a term for looking at too many Russian landscape paintings, i.e. “landscape fatigue.” One starts with good intentions, but after twenty or so paintings–they all tend to merge into one Ur-landscape of the nineteenth century. A lot of it has to do with the problem of foreground and field. If you’re looking at the usual stock of trees, skies and a few buildings, nothing stands out. But if you are arrested by a detail or a sharp contrast in the style, then you can make out something significant.
