Constantin Korovin 1861—1939

Portrait of Constantin Korovin, by Valentin Serov, 1891

Constantin Korovin was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Constantin was born in Moscow to a merchant family. In 1875 Korovin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied with Vasily Perov and Alexei Savrasov.

In 1885 Korovin traveled to Paris and Spain. “Paris was a shock for me … Impressionists… in them I found everything I was scolded for back home in Moscow”, he later wrote. Polenov introduced Korovin to Savva Mamontov’s Abramtsevo Circle: Viktor Vasnetsov, Apollinary Vasnetsov, Ilya Repin, Mark Antokolsky and others.

In 1885 Korovin worked for Mamontov’s opera house, designing the stage décor for Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, Léo Delibes’ Lakmé and Georges Bizet’s Carmen. In 1888 Korovin traveled with Mamontov to Italy and Spain.

He traveled within Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia and exhibited with the Peredvizhniki. He painted in the Impressionist, and later in the Art Nouveau, styles. In the 1890s Korovin became a member of the Mir iskusstva art group.

In 1900 Korovin designed the Central Asia section of the Russian Empire pavilion at the Paris World Fair and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.

Korovin designed sets for Konstantin Stanislavsky’s dramatic productions, as well as Mariinsky’s operas and ballets. In 1905 he became an Academician of Painting and in 1909–1913 a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

In 1923 Korovin moved to Paris. In the last years of his life he produced stage designs for many of the major theatres of Europe, America, Asia and Australia, the most famous of which is his scenery for the Turin Opera House’s production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel.

Constantin Korovin, Boulevard Montmartre by Night, oil on canvas, 65 x 85.1 cm (25.6 x 33.5 in)

Constantin Korovin, Portrait of Elegant Lady, oil on canvas, 115 x 81 cm (45.3 x 31.8 in)