Monday, January 21, 2013

Amazing Artist-MORA #2

Amazing Art Work
Russian Who Lived in U.S.

Russia's Gift to us. 

Many years ago I first saw Nicolai Fechin's art work in a museum converted from his former adobe home in Taos, New Mexico.  Like many of the artists of his time he lived for a number of years in Taos with his young daughter, and his residence is now a museum. I was thrilled to learn that some of his drawings and paintings were on exhibit here in the Twin Cities, next stop Seattle.  Recently DH and I spent several wonderful hours at the Museum of Russian Art as our "Friday Field Trip"excursion.  Unfortunately we could not take pictures inside the museum, except for the gift shop, where I picked up an unusual pair of Baltic amber earrings. DH got a CD, featuring the Russian National Orchestra with solo violinist German-born, Julia Fischer. The first image above is the cover of a book, which was for sale in the gift shop. The woman in the photo was a Taos Indian...my favorite painting in the exhibition.
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Go here to learn about Fechin and the exhibition.

To see two pages of images of Fechin's paintings go here.  You won't be sorry! The second and third images above are from the link I provided.  Check it out to see his paintings!!
In 1927 Nicolai Fechin became embroiled in a messy and destructive divorce that necessitated his departure from Taos. At the urging of the Los Angeles art dealer Earl Stendahl, he moved to the Hollywood Hills. He also began traveling extensively, visiting Bali, Java, Mexico and Japan. In the late 1930s he attempted to live in Bali, but was driven back to the United States by the beginning of Japanese hostilities in the Pacific. He bought a studio in Santa Monica and became more sociable than was his custom. In October 1955, shortly before his death, a major retrospective of his work was launched in San Diego and La Jolla, at which Nicolai Fechin was able to see a number of paintings he had not seen for decades.








17 comments:

  1. I like the paintings very much. We have also an exhibition of Russian paintings in our country which I haven't seen yet.

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  2. I will look for his house/museum in Taos when visiting there one day.

    The way his name is spelled in Russian, it should be Feshin and not Fechin in English. The Russian alphabet has 31 letters, with one letter for the "ch" sound, another letter for the "sh" sound, and yet another letter for the "shch" sound, for words that have the sound like you were saying "freshcheese."

    In the Cathedral in Reims, France, there is a stained glass window by Chagal with a sign that identifies him as a Russian born French artist.

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  3. Thanks for the links. Amazing works indeed!

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  4. Thank you for another post on Fechin. I have a big coffee table book of his paintings that I got back in the 1970s. I was told around that time by someone who knew him personally that his daughter still had a big warehouse in LA full of his paintings and drawings. He was very prolific. I love his Russian and Taos scenes/characters the best. And I've never seen his name spelled any way other than Fechin.

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  5. I'll go with that sketch to the left of the lady. Thanks for the link today.

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  6. What a perfect post! We are planning to spend some time up in northern New Mexico later this year. The Fechin museum in Taos is going on my list of places to go, things to see.

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  7. Excellent link Kate..his portraits are incredible, what a treat to see some of the originals.

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  8. Artists seem to really like Taos. Terrific portraits in the link you provided. Too bad you weren't allowed to photograph a little bit of the exhibit.

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  9. Wonderful work! I'd love to visit his house one day.

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  10. I like his works. The colors are soft and blend together well!

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  11. Anonymous10:20 AM

    I bet you went Russian over there to be first in line...

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  12. i am so impressed by artists who can do portraits. just beautiful.

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  13. Wow! I love his work, but I'm taken by the charcoal self portrait above. There's so much in that face of his!

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  14. These are really wonderful.

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  15. I always appreciate your background information about people and topics!

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  16. I just love the hand on top!

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  17. Certainly enjoyed looking at his many fabulous paintings!

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