Biographies

Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin was born in Moscow. In 1881-1882, Korovin spent a year at the Academy in St. Petersburg, but returned disappointed to Moscow. That year a new professor came to the Moscow School, a distinguished painter Vasily Polenov, who impressed his students not only with his painting but also with his knowledge and enthusiastic attitude towards contemporary Western art, especially French. Korovin stayed with the new teacher at the Moscow School until 1886. Polenov introduced his student to the famous patron of arts Savva Mamontov and his Abramtsevo group. Korovin was a long term member of several art associations, including the Abramtsevo Art Circle, World of Art (1899-1903), and the Union of Russian Artists (1903-1922). He participated in the exhibitions of the Circle of the Itinerants from 1889 to 1899, the Moscow Society of Art Lovers (periodically between 1889 and 1911), and 36 Artists (1901-1902). In 1905 he received the title of a member of the Academy, and five years later he was awarded the Legion of Honor for his creation of the architectural plans and decorative panels for the 1910 World’s Fair in Paris. In addition to painting landscapes, portraits, genre scenes, and still lifes, Korovin worked in the decorative and applied arts. He designed sets for the Bolshoi Theater and private opera in Moscow and for the Marinsky and Alexander Theaters in St. Petersburg before he moved to Paris in 1923.

At the Tea Table (1888)
— Korovin, Konstantin

Chorus Girl (1883)
— Korovin, Konstantin

Costume for the opera Mephistopheles (1906)
— Korovin, Konstantin

Paris, Boulevarde des Capucines (1911)
— Korovin, Konstantin

Portrait of Feodor Chaliapin
— Korovin, Konstantin

Venice (1894)
— Korovin, Konstantin