Artworks Artists Concepts
Nikolay Kasatkin
“An autumn evening”
1999
Oil on canvas
140x120
Section: Painting
Period: 1990s
Photorealism,
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Photorealism

Artworks in collection

Landscape
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Landscape

Artworks in collection

Canvas “An autumn evening,” alongside with another similar work “Morning” (1999), was gifted to the museum by the artist himself. It is one of the brightest examples of the conceptual realism of Nikolay Kasatkin. The work, which is a part of the series “Puddles” (1999–2002), is executed within the tradition of Russian landscape painting, referring the viewer, for example, to the motives of Isaac Levitan. The philosophical theme of the road, the autumn thaw, which is generally characteristic of Russian art, in Kasatkin’s work reaches the level of metaphysics. The color of the picture, in modern terms, is “digitalized,” the details are highlighted and isolated. The gray, lifeless ground, in combination with a piercingly bright sunset, creates a feeling of unearthly landscape. The central theme is puddles in the road potholes. Their outlines resemble large lakes, seen from a bird's eye view or the windows of the illuminator.

Vladimir Prokhorov

Nikolay Kasatkin studied at the Moscow State Academic Art institute named after V.I. Surikov, graduating in 1959. Initially he oriented towards classic painting, particularly European romanticism and elegiac Russian landscape of the XIXth century. 

(About the artist)

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Nikolay Kasatkin
1932
Artworks in collection

Nikolay Kasatkin studied at the Moscow State Academic Art institute named after V.I. Surikov, graduating in 1959. Initially he oriented towards classic painting, particularly European romanticism and elegiac Russian landscape of the XIXth century. However, the evolution of the classic direction in Kasatkin's art went past the official path. His closest associates turned out to be Erik Bulatov (b. 1933), Oleg Vasiliev (1931–2013) and other representatives of non-official art. The artist explores the transformation of realistic motives, filling them with philosophiс content, soft and subtle concept. For that purpose, he uses elements of photorealism, kitsch culture, and other “incidental” practices.

Vladimir Prokhorov

 

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