“Katenka”, Nikolai Ivanovich Feshin – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Nikolay Ivanovich Feshin
- Museum: State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan
- Year: 1912
Overview of the painting :
Katenka – Nikolay Ivanovich Feshin. Oil on canvas. 57 x 53 cm
At the end of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Feshin returns to Kazan, where he lives and teaches at the Kazan Art School. He has the title of artist, is awarded academic awards and traveling abroad, is known for his genre works “Cheremis Wedding”, “Cabustnica”, the picture “Lady in Lilov” and others.
For Feshin, the time before the revolution, from 1911 to 1917 is a period of writing numerous portraits: famous people, near and dear ones, students and students of the school, friends and their children.
“Portrait of Katenka”, written in 1912, first of all, attracts attention with the unusually large blue eyes of the heroine. A girl is wrapped in a shawl or plaid, her hand is pressing some toy.
Gracefully, in the Feshinsky a gentle face is uniquely written out, the look of not childishly serious eyes is grasped.
And then – typhoon, the rest of the circuit is as if chaotic filling of the canvas with paints. But this seems to be – the author thought out and brilliantly clearly executed. As a result, volume, character, naturalness appears from the riot of paints.
The work on the portrait shows Feshin’s enthusiasm for impressionism, in every smear one feels dynamism, lightness, and sweeping.
Nikolai Ivanovich instantly grabs the essence of the model, the portrait of Katenka turned out to be very soulful, expressive, sincere. The artist does not like “smooth” painting, his strokes are embossed and colorful. Thanks to this, the picture acquires volume and at the same time airiness.
Perhaps the students of Feshin were excitingly interested in observing the expressive, wide flight of the brush and the palette knife of a talented painter in the process of working. Feshin is just an amazing master, his original language of painting is distinguished by energy, liveliness and most importantly by uniqueness.