Work of Alexander Mikhailovich Mikeshky
Alexander Mikhailovich Mikeshky was an avant-garde Russian artist who was part of the movement that pushed Russian art forward beyond the conventions of European art and into revolutionary territory. Born in 1894 in the city of Voronezh, he received his formal artistic education at the Moscow College of Painters and worked in various styles including impressionism, symbolism, and cubism. He was a student of master Ilya Repin and was heavily influenced by the artists of the Russian Academy of Arts including Mikhail Vrubel, Konstantin Yuon, Boris Kustodiev, and Alexander Yakovlev.
Mikeshky’s work focused primarily on his own life, depicting his experiences of being an individual in the rapidly changing city of Moscow. One of his major artworks is “View of Moscow from the Mayakovsky Square”, an oil on canvas painting of Moscow from the top of the Mayakovsky Square which was built in 1922. In the painting he expressed his personal view of the city, expressing its architecture and the character of the people living in the city. It reveals the beauty of the city and its inhabitants, displaying the diversity and culture of this vibrant city.
Other works of Mikeshky’s that focussed on modern life in Moscow include “Red Hotel” and “In the Zoo”. The former is a painting of a hotel in Moscow which was painted in 1941, shortly before the Nazis invaded Moscow, while the latter is an oil on canvas painting of Moscow’s Moscow Zoo. Both pieces display the modernity of the city and the blending of cultures in one of the world’s most vibrant cities.
Aside from his works dealing with post-revolution Moscow, Mikeshky also created several pieces that examine the themes of human relations, such as “Family” and “Woman with Lilies”. Mikeshky was also strongly influenced by the works of the Russian Symbolists and Neo-Romanticists and produced several paintings of classical themes and subjects from Russian mythology, such as “The Tower of Babel”, “The Firebird”, and “The Mermaid”. All of these paintings demonstrate the influence of traditional Russian art and culture on Mikeshky’s own personal style.
Throughout his life, Mikeshky produced dozens of sketches, watercolours, oil on canvas paintings, and illustrations. He was part of the Russian avant-garde movement, a trend which had began with the Constructivists and which sought to completely revolutionise Russian art. Furthermore, his works and those of his contemporaries served to create a meaningful link between modern and folk art, emphasising the importance of both and demonstrating the evolution of Russian culture over time.
Mikeshky died in 1952, leaving behind a body of work that reflects the changes that took place in Russia in the first half of the twentieth century. His works serve as a testament to the evolution of art in Russia, offering us a unique window into a turbulent time in Russian history. Through his paintings we can gain an insight into Mikeshky’s personal perspectives and his own experiences of the changing world around him. As such, they serve as an important reminder of the importance of maintaining an appreciation of art and culture in order to better understand our past and to shape our future.
