ART RUSSE RELEASES BOOK ON RUSSIAN-AMERICAN ARTIST NICOLAI FECHIN
28 Nov 14
ART RUSSE is pleased to present Fechin, a book about Nicolai Fechin (1881 - 1955), one of the brightest artists of the first half of the XXth century, carefully compiled by Galina Toulouzakova. Published by Unicorn Press Ltd. in English and French, the book is the most complete review of the celebrated Russian-American artist's legacy. Fechin is the second book in ART RUSSE's book series aimed at promoting awareness and understanding of Russian art among international audiences.
The book's publication coincides with the 133rd anniversary of Fechin's birth in Kazan. To mark the event, the book was presented in the Khazine National Gallery, a branch of the Tatarstan State Museum of Art which has Russia's largest collection of Nicolai Fechin's art works.
The most prominent alumnus of the Kazan Art School, Nicolai Fechin developed a unique artistic style, merging several different early XXth century styles together. After his emigration to the United States in the 1920s, his works became part of world culture. His art demonstrates great skill in academic drawing, realistic painting in the tradition of Peredvizhniks, and influences of impressionism and expressionism.
Fechin is a unique book by the art historian Galina Toulouzakova, and is the most complete examination of Nickolai Fechin's art legacy to date. This full-colour illustrated hardback book contains previously unseen works, and has been published in both English and French, with 2,000 copies in each language.
As part of its book series, ART RUSSE publishes a book each year about a Russian artist from the 1917 - 1991 period. The first book was Peter Kozorezenko Jr.'s Viktor Popkov - A Russian Painter of Genius, a book about the famous Soviet artist Viktor Popkov. The next book in the series will be a volume about Fedor Reshetnikov, another celebrated Soviet artist.
Andrey Filatov, the founder of ART RUSSE, said: "Nicolai Fechin, an outstanding portraitist and one of the world's leading drawing talents, is a bright figure in Russian art. He is well known both in Russia and the United States as a great artist. This book gives us the great honour of presenting his talent to a European audience and showing the wealth of Russia's art heritage to the international community."
Art historian Galina Toulouzakova, said: "Nicolai Fechin's work is one of the greatest developments in early XXth century art and required a complete and in-depth study. His art demonstrates a blending of that period's most important themes: innovation and tradition; idealism and formalism; experiments in techniques and art technology; and an aspiration for versatility."
NICOLAI IVANOVICH FECHIN (1881-1955) was a Russian-American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native American. After graduating with the highest marks from the Imperial Academy of Arts and travelling in Europe under a Prix de Rome, he returned to his native Kazan, where he taught and painted. He exhibited his first work in the United States in 1910 in an international exhibition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After immigrating with his family to New York in 1923 and working there for a few years, he developed tuberculosis and moved West for a drier climate. He and his family settled in Taos, New Mexico, where he became fascinated by Native Americans and the landscape. He left Taos in 1933 and settled in southern California.
GALINA TOULOUZAKOVA is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Kazan Pedagogical University. She is a lecturer in world art history, and a leading expert on Fechin. She has curated exhibitions and authored studies dedicated to Nicolai Fechin's art.
