Konstantin Gorbatov

Biography

Konstantin Gorbatov, born in 1876 in Stavropol, in south-western Russia, began drawing while still at school. He moved to Riga between 1896 and 1903, where he studied at the local polytechnic with the intention of becoming an architect. He arrived in St Petersburg to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, switching from architecture to painting, which finally allowed him to pursue his artistic vocation.

A luminous Impressionist style

During these years, influenced above all by the historical paintings of Il’ja Repin and the romantic landscapes of Archip Ivanovič Kuindž, he began to develop his own style, which would soon emerge as a form of realism imbued with Impressionist values. After beginning to exhibit in Russia in 1905, he took part in his first foreign exhibition in 1911, winning the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Munich with his painting They Have Reached the Beach. It was from this moment that the painter’s agile, fast and luminous style began to make an impression on European audiences and critics, from Germany to France to Italy.

Gorbatov in Italy: the charms of Capri and Venice

In 1912, thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Rome to study at the Academy of Fine Arts; his stay became an opportunity to study ancient painting and visit other Italian and European cities: he stayed in Capri, Venice and Spain, and also participated in the 1914 Biennale with two landscapes. Studies, views and landscapes with a strong Impressionist influence filled his work in the 1910s, rich in light and colour. After the 1917 revolution, the painter moved to Italy, where he lived between Capri and Venice with his wife Olga Alexandrovna Gorbatova.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, he continued to paint incessantly, winning over international collectors in particular, who were attracted by the idyllic and brilliant atmosphere of his expansive Italian views, always accompanied, however, by the harsh and snow-covered Russian landscapes that would always be part of his repertoire.

The move to Berlin and travels in the Middle East

In 1926, the artist moved to Berlin, where he set up his studio and joined the large community of Russian artists who had emigrated to Germany after the revolution. Nevertheless, he continued to visit Italy and, between 1934 and 1935, he also travelled around the Mediterranean, visiting Greece, Cyprus and Palestine. During these years, his painting became denser and more textured, as can be seen in the bright and plastic landscapes painted between Cyprus and Jerusalem, where his palette shifted towards ochre and sand tones. After this trip, during which his work became more “orientalist”, Gorbatov embarked on his last adventure before the war, visiting London, where he left behind sketches and drawings of buildings, streets and cathedrals executed with speed and dexterity. During the war years, he continued to paint incessantly, bringing back memories of Venetian and Capri views in particular.

He died in Berlin in 1945, shortly after the liberation by Soviet troops, whom the painter had instinctively immortalised in his work The Capture of Berlin.

Elena Lago