Arkhip Kuindzi

Arkhip Kuindzi is my favourite artist. A Ukrainian painter, active in Russia, Kuindzi was born in Mariupol and died in St. Petersburg. At first Kuindzi was an amateur painter. He retouched photographs. Kuindzi was accepted to St. Petersburg Academy as an external student. There he was trained by the marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky. In his early landscape paintings Kuindzi often tried to capture seasonal moods, as in the "Autumn Mud". A more human focus is seen after 1874, when he joined the Wanderers. The village houses dominate the landscape background in the "Evening in Ukraine". Kuindzi's principal interest was in light. He obtained effects by using vivid colours, contrasts and simple but perfectly conceived designs. Impressive paintings, such as the "Birch Grove" stirred the public to fears. The years of experiments allowed Kuindzi to develop a highly original technique, which he applied to an increasingly typical treatment of snow-covered mountains and moonlight, such as in his "Elbuis: Moonlight Night".